Wizards Dominate Sixers in MLK Day Matinee

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Washington 111, Philadelphia 76 – Box Score

With many people across the country off work in remembrance of the life and works of Martin Luther King, Jr., I’m reminded of one of Dr. King’s more famous quotes: “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” It’s easy to support the grand Sixers rebuild when the team is tearing apart New Orleans, or enjoying last-second victories against Brooklyn and Indiana. However, Monday afternoon’s game against the Wizards was one of those games when the whole staircase is nowhere in sight. Nevertheless, we still have to take that step.

The Sixers hung around in the very early stages of the game thanks to the tenacious play on both ends of the court of Nerlens Noel. The Sixers big man finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and a block, but was also making his presence known in ways not present on the box score. Noel took a charge, knocked a ball out of Kris Humphries’ hands and out-of-bounds off him for a turnover, and showed off his ball handling skills leading a few fast breaks himself. Unfortunately, the majority of the team didn’t show the same effort on the court.

Midway through the first quarter, the Sixers began to look like they were in a movie where their basketball skills get stolen (Space Jam and Thunderstruck are a couple that come to mind), and a series of errant shots allowed the Wizards to pull off a 16-1 run to take control of the game for good. The Sixers couldn’t buy a bucket all afternoon, making just 32.9% of their shots from the field, while aside from Noel, there wasn’t much defensive intensity shown in allowing the Wizards to shoot 55.6%. With all those missed shots, you might think they would have some second-chance opportunities, but that was not the case either, with Washington out-rebounding the Sixers 53-30. The Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat, was the picture of efficiency in those areas, finishing with 20 points on 9-11 shooting and 8 rebounds in just 29 minutes.

The biggest culprits offensively for the Sixers were the starting backcourt of Michael Carter-Williams and K.J. McDaniels. McDaniels went 2-9 from the field and is now 8-26 (22.2% over his last 4 games). Some of those makes are finishes around the rim, really speaking to how much he’s struggled with his jump shot over the past week or so. That jump shot is the difference between energy bench guy and legitimate 3-and-D player, so hopefully this downturn is just a bit of a slump. As for MCW, he shot 2-13, wiping away the memories of what had been a good recent stretch of shooting. It was one of those days where his shot looks completely broken and you wonder how he ever makes any jumpers at all. When people question whether Carter-Williams can be a starting point guard for a good team, this is one of the games they’ll point to.

After a half decade mired in a rebuild of their own, the Wizards have crawled through a river of shit and come out clean on the other side. They have their young, exciting backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, and have surrounded them with a good group of veterans to hasten them along to true contention. Hopefully, the Sixers can say the same thing a few years down the line when they reach the top of the staircase themselves.

Other Game Notes:

• Unlike K.J. McDaniels, the Sixers’ other 2nd-round pick Jerami Grant has not been struggling with his shot of late. Grant made a career-high 3 threes on 6 attempts against Washington, and is now 10-19 (56.2%) over his last 7 games. He even hit a three with Drew Gooden trying to clap to distract him from the Wizards bench. As we’ve mentioned before, although originally seen as a tweener with an undefined role, a Grant that can hit threes as well would make his way into any NBA rotation.
• For the second straight game, Larry Drew II led the team in assists off the bench, recording 6 in just 23 minutes of play (although he also had 5 turnovers). A couple of those turnovers were guys fumbling away nice passes and he hit a rolling big man on a couple occasions that should have resulted in points but did not (Malcolm Thomas botching an easy shot around the hoop comes to mind). It’s kind of interesting watching the Sixers react to having a pass-first point guard after going with MCW and Tony Wroten all season.
• The Sixers have officially reached the halfway point of the season, sitting at 8-33 through 41 games. Some really advanced math tells me they’re on pace to win 16 games. With the preseason win total having been set at 15.5 games, it proves once again that Vegas knows more than any of us.