Sixers Drop Preseason Opener to Wizards

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Washington 129, Philadelphia 95 – Box Score

Early returns are in and it’s safe to say the Sixers won’t have a top-12 defense this season. The perimeter defense was atrocious against Washington, as led by Otto Porter’s 4-4, the Wizards shot 15-26 from threein a rout of the Sixers in the preseason opener.

Actually, it wasn’t as bad as the score would indicate. The starting line-up hung with that of the Wizards (Noel’s -5 on the game was the worst among Sixers starters), and Philly was down just 2 points heading into the second half when Washington broke it open.

Considering it’s the preseason and all, the score doesn’t matter as much as how the new frontcourt tandem of Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel looked in their first game together. Well, for the most part, they looked pretty good.

It’s very clear why Okafor is a Rookie of the Year favorite; he’s going to put up stats as practically every possession was a touch for the former Duke big man. He looked good offensively, finishing with a final line of 12 points on 6-10 shooting, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in just 17 minutes. Okafor lit the world on fire at the onset, going 4-4 for 8 points in the first quarter against Marcin Gortat.

Not bad, rook.https://t.co/KrFDcRXkvS

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 7, 2015

You might notice all those points came on mid-range shots, which brings up a minor negative. Okafor really struggled to establish post position against the bulky Wizards big men. That difficulty was always something he had trouble with when facing bigger opponents in college, and it’s something to keep an eye on going forward. You can see in his shot chart, all his makes (with the exception of one at the rim which came in transition) were from between 12-15 feet.

12 points on 6/10 in 17 mins from @JahlilOkafor was definitely good to see, but how he did it was really promising. pic.twitter.com/5iDRoVYS0K

— max (@MaxOnTwitter) October 7, 2015

Okafor also looked a bit gassed despite playing just 4-5 minute spurts in each quarter, and the 4 fouls in limited playing time is a concern. Still, he held his own for the most part defensively and all in all, it has to be considered a positive debut for the rookie.

As for second-year big man Nerlens Noel, he looked good next to Okafor (the spacing in the half court offense was not a concern). Noel tallied 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal and a block in 21+ minutes of action, most impressively hitting 5 of his 6 free throw attempts. As expected, Noel was the back-up center, as Jerami Grant checked in for Okafor after 5 minutes, so he’s still going to play the role he was in last year for stretches of each game. Generally though, he looked fluid moving around on the perimeter defensively, although the Wizards play a little bit bigger than most teams so it likely wasn’t the best test in that department.

Other Game Notes:

• I hate Isaiah Canaan’s game. He is no point guard; exhibit A: he was stripped by Nene bringing the ball up, which led to an uncontested finish by the Brazilian big man the other way. Nevertheless, I have to admit his game meshing well with that of Jahlil Okafor because he doesn’t drive and clog up the lane and is a good floor spacer with which to surround the young big man. Canaan hit 3 of 5 threes to tie Noel with a team-high 13 points. Still, get well soon, Kendall Marshall.
• We learned post-game that Pierre Jackson’s groin injury is worse than originally anticipated and it’s unlikely he returns at all during the preseason. His absence makes it highly unlikely for Jackson to make the final 15-man roster considering the Sixers are already dealing with two injured point guards in Marshall and Tony Wroten. Pappy Jack can’t seem to catch a break.
• The Sixers bench, woof. The plus/minus marks for Jerami Grant, Hollis Thompson, Furkan Aldemir, Scottie Wilbekin, and Jordan McRae ranged from -22 to -33 and it was as bad as the stats would indicate. We may have a situation similar to 2 years ago on our hands when the starters led by Thad Young, Evan Turner, and Spencer Hawes kept the Sixers hanging around, before the putrid bench would blow things apart. Hopefully, the return of guys like Stauskas, Marshall, and Wroten will help matters.
• Christian Wood received 9+ minutes of game action, highlighted by a tremendous block of Garrett Temple off the glass. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of him in games to come.