The Defense Rests in Sixers v. Wizards

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

The 79th Masters tournament begins today, a fitting time for it considering the Sixers have been playing as if they’re ready to hit the golf course (or they would if the majority of them were old enough to find golf interesting yet). With Wednesday night’s embarrassing loss to the Wizards, Philadelphia limps down the home stretch of the season sporting a 7-game losing streak, the worst run for the team since the unseemly 0-17 start to the season.

Despite John Wall sporting a bow tie on the bench (simply getting some rest for the playoffs) and Nene out with a shoulder injury, the Wizards starters could do no wrong against the Sixers’ happy-to-accommodate defense. The first five for Washington were all +20 or better on the game, even getting contributions from such legendary figures as Drew Gooden and Ramon Sessions. The Wizards put up 70 first half points, and shot 65.3% from the field on the game, moving the Sixers to 0-18 on the year when the opponent shoots 50% or better. Apparently, terrible defense is a simple formula for defeat.

Marcin Gortat once again looked like a Hall-of-Famer against the Sixers, thanks to the space cadet defense employed by both Furkan Aldemir and Henry Sims. The way that pair has played this last month or so, I want no part of either of them on the Sixers roster next season. Gortat finished with 18 points on 8-9 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocks in 26 minutes of action. Getting in on the FG% padding, Bradley Beal dropped a team-high 21 points on 7-9 shooting in just 23 minutes.

Thanks to the wonderfully efficient night offensive from Robert Covington, the Sixers could have actually been construed to be competing for a good portion of the night. Covington dropped a career-high 27 points on 8-11 shooting, hitting 4 of 6 threes, and going 7-8 at the foul line. With Big Shot Bob doing everything in his power to keep pace with a Wizards team scoring at will, the Sixers actually went on a 10-0 run to cut the Washington lead to 11 in the third quarter, culminating in this sweet Jerami Grant thunder dunk.

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This was ultimately sad for 2 reasons: 1) It was Jerami Grant’s only made field goal on the night in 9 attempts; and 2) The Sixers proceeded to give up threes on the Wizards’ next three possessions and were quickly down 20 once again.

Literally adding injury to insult, Nerlens Noel sprained his ankle late in the game coming down on Will Bynum’s foot. It was not a stellar effort for the rookie, as he hit only 2 of 8 shots and continued to look out of place for long stretches in the team’s attempt to transition him to the power forward position. How much of that is due to his struggles, versus how much to the defensive ineptitude of Aldemir and Sims, may have to be determined next year, as it’s entirely possible Noel is shut down for the final three games with the injury. Any lingering hopes for a Rookie of the Year bid for Nerlens can officially be cast aside, which is a bummer.

Other infrequent bright spots on the evening included a hot shooting night from Jason Richardson, who recorded 17 points on 6-7 shooting (4-5 3PT). It was easily J-Rich’s best game since exiting the time portal against the Thunder last month. Also, Thomas Robinson had 8 (!) offensive rebounds as part of a 11-point, 12-rebound double-double in just 22 minutes. Dude attacks the glass like a bar regular at the end of a long work week.

With the loss, we can officially put to rest the idea of receiving the OKC pick this season, as the Thunder are now 3 games behind Washington. The only remaining drama in the lottery department resides with the Miami pick (currently tied for 10th with Indiana), or if Minnesota could somehow win 2 of its last 4 games. The Sixers will continue playing out the string Saturday against Chicago.