By Sean Kennedy
Hello Wizards, my old friend – Simon & Garfunkel, kind of.
After going down and a laying a second-half smackdown on the Wizards in Washington last Friday night, the Sixers will welcome them to their house Wednesday night, looking to rebound from their worst (and only!) loss of the season Monday against the Warriors. Ironically, despite the Wizards being all-in Mike McDermott-style for a playoff berth this season, they sit at 0-3, looking all the way up at the Sixers near the top of standings, sitting there with a ‘we’re trying to lose but it’s pretty cool that we’re 3-1 anyway’ attitude. I imagine Ted Leonsis, Ernie Grunfeld, and the rest of the Wizards management are losing their minds at the universe’s cruel joke.
The problem for Washington so far has been on the defensive end. The Wizards have allowed no fewer than 103 points in a game thus far, thanks mainly to their ranking dead last in the league in Opponent’s Effective FG% at 56.6%. The opposition is shooting an otherworldly 75.5% from less than 5 ft., more than 10% better than against any other club. Washington really misses Emeka Okafor’s defensive presence in the paint. They went out and acquired Marcin Gortat in the wake of Okafor’s injury, but while a skilled offensive player, Gortat does not provide that deterrent down low. Additionally, Nene will once again be a game-time decision, and his absence has further exacerbated those concerns on the frontline.
The Sixers will enter play as one-point underdogs, which is fair as I view this game as a toss-up as well (who would have thought I’d be saying that about any Sixers game one week into the season). Defensively, the same rules apply as the first contest: get back and don’t let John Wall run his one-man fast breaks, keep an eye on guys like Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, and Martell Webster (and hope Beal doesn’t break out of his early-season shooting slump). Philadelphia’s attacking style should once again play well into that weak Wasington defense. The key will likely be if Michael Carter-Williams can shake off his shooting woes from the Golden State contest, and approximate that Eastern Conference Player of the Year-type efficiency on the offensive end. With his added level of responsibility in containing the Wizards’ number one threat in Wall, a lot will ride on the continued maturity of the rookie guard. I feel like that will be a common theme throughout this bizarre season.
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