What is the story about?
Fresh legs PG, everyone.
The Sixers took care of business in the second half, blowing out the Washington Wizards 153-131 Wednesday night.
They are now 42-34, an important win with the Hawks, Magic, Heat, and Raptors all in action tonight as well.
Paul George with a new personal Sixers high, led all scorers with 39 shooting 15-of-22 from the field along with six assists and three steals. Tyrese Maxey had 28 of his own on 12-of-20 shooting with nine assists.
VJ Edgecombe filled in the gaps quite finely,
finishing with 23 points going 10-of-15 from the floor along with 10 assists. Anthony Gil led Washington with 21.
Despite his objections on Twitter, Joel Embiid was out with an illness, along with Johni Broome (meniscus tear). The Wizards were without six players, most importantly Alex Sarr (toe) and Kyshawn George (elbow).
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- PG was in control as soon as the game tipped off, immediately knocking down a pair of midrange jumpers. He drove to the basket a couple times, one got him a layup and the other a trip to the line. He dished to Maxey, who drew a foul making a long two, giving the Sixers an early chance to gain separation.
- It was a good start team-wide as they opened up the game 9-of-13 from the field, but the Wizards started well too at 7-of-12. George got his hands on the ball a couple of times but sloppy passes were the only thing stopping offensive production early.
- Unlike the Bulls game last week, the Sixers didn’t stagger as much. George and Maxey both played most of the quarter and checked out at the same time. The second unit did a pretty good job finding Quentin Grimes. Justin Edwards kicked it out to him in the corner for a three and Andre Drummond threw a nice bounce pass for a cutting dunk, giving the Sixers a six-point lead after a high scoring first.
Second Quarter
- The defensive effort didn’t exactly improve as Washington took their first lead early in the quarter. Whether it was a give-and-go, a pick-and-roll, a backdoor cut, or just slashing right down the lane, the Sixers let it happen with hardly any resistance.
- Maxey came out gunning when he checked back in, moving quickly for a reverse layup then storming his way down the lane for a dunk, but stops continued to be a rarity. Not only had the Wizards made 1o of their first 12 goal attempts in the second, one of those misses turned into an offensive rebound and second chance points.
- With just a few minutes left in the half, the Sixers finally turned some focus to that end and lo and behold, the Wizards finally started missing shots. The Sixers also did a good job running off those Wizard misses — the fast break layups by Maxey and Edgecombe to tie and momentarily go back in front, especially. Anthony Gil was the latest Wizard who shot himself to a hot start as he made two threes in response. PG buried one off the dribble before the buzzer to put the Sixers back up by two at the break.
Third Quarter
- George picked up right where he left off, knocking down a couple more threes at the start of the half. In between those, he found Adem Bona for two dunks. He opened the half on such a heater the Sixers were able to expand their lead a bit despite the Wizards making their first four shots of the third.
- It was understandably being overshadowed but Maxey was having a strong shooting night himself. Edgecombe’s night was more understated, with almost all of his baskets coming in transition. The Sixers finally turned this game on its head as they got more stops, with three Wizards turnovers in four possessions helping quite a bit.
- Tre Johnson finally getting on the board gave Washington just a small shot in the arm. Cam Payne checked in for the first time and immediately got on the board with a floater. Everything was falling for the Sixers — Drummond had sunk both of his corner three attempts. After shooting 76% from the field in the third, the Sixers led by 17.
Fourth Quarter
- The Sixers were able to do a lot of their damage by just breaking guys down off the dribble, it didn’t take a ton of precision, so it was a nice to see Edgecombe throw a slick pass off a cut to Oubre for a corner three. He rattled off five quick points of his own then found Oubre for another three to cap off a fine night for himself as well.
- Not only did George return for a shot at breaking 40 points, but Maxey checked back into the game as well, both their first three-point attempts upon returning to the game. After a couple Wizards baskets cut the lead to 14, the Sixers called a timeout and put their full starting five back on the floor.
- George missed his last shot, a midrange attempt, it was his first miss from inside the arc all night. He got stuck on 39 but four unanswered baskets from the Sixers caused a Wizards timeout and the benches to be emptied.
