Well, Monday didn’t go as hoped for the Sixers. With cool shooting nights from their stars, while Tyler Herro led the way with 30 points for Miami who went on a 14-0 run in the last few minutes to take control, the Sixers lost to the Heat, 119-109.
It was an underwhelming performance and frustrating result. It cost the Sixers their tie breaker with the Heat, losing the season series 2-1, and helps keep the Sixers in seventh place in a tightly packed Eastern Conference.
Now, though, going on the road
to face the Wizards on Wednedsay should give the Sixers an easy chance to pick up a key win as the East standings rapidly fall into place over the final games of the season.
The recovering Johni Broome remains the only player on the injury report for Philly. Meanwhile, as the Wizards deal with some injuries and do all they can to keep tanking, all the notable players who could have been worth keeping an eye on in this matchup are sidelined.
Along with Anthony Davis who’s been out for months, Washington’s key creators are absent. Trae Young remains out with low back pain and a right quad contusion, and rising talent Kyshawn George is out with a left elbow sprain. D’Angelo Russell (not with team), rookie backup center who started on Sunday Julian Reese (G League assignment) and Cam Whitmore (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis) are also out. On top of that, Tre Johnson (right foot sprain), Bilal Coulibaly (right retrocalcaneal bursitis) and Alex Sarr (left big toe capsulitis) are questionable.
Washington have been tanking hard for a while now, down at 14th in the East with their 17-58 record. They’ve kept it going since their big trade deadline deal too, swapping CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert for Trae Young. Their new star point guard has only appeared in five games due to injury, and they have a mere one win in their last 20 games.
In this stretch since Feb. 22., they’ve been in truly sensational tanking form with a net rating of -14.1 and rankings of 28th in both offensive and defensive rating.
As a depleted, bottom-three team at both ends of the floor, they really have no business competing with a Sixers team that finally has its Big 3 back in action and a healthy rotation.
If Joel Embiid can dominate against a smaller, weak frontcourt to improve on the 10-of-25 shooting night he had against Bam Adebayo and the Heat, and Paul George and Tyrese Maxey both warm up after going a combined 14-of-38 from the floor on Monday, that alone should make Wednesday’s game fairly light work.
Even when talented center Sarr has been active this season and showing his improving rim protection, the Wizards’ defense has still been poor. Opportunities for Maxey and VJ Edgecombe to fly downhill to the rim against a weak crop of perimeter defenders, and for Embiid to bully his way inside against backup bigs, should be plentiful.
More plays like Edgecombe’s awesome high-rise alley-oop against a scrambling Washington defense sure would be welcome to make things entertaining.
There’s clearly little left for these Wizards, but if he’s available, Sarr is at least one player to pay more attention to. He’s had a solid sophomore season, improving his efficiency and paint scoring while becoming a sharper defender and rim protector. Sarr’s numbers have climbed across the board to 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. However, he should remain no match for Embiid defensively and can’t do enough by himself as more of a play finisher to cover for all the lacking offensive creation.
There’s only seven games left for the Sixers and the packed Eastern Conference seems to be shifting daily. Let’s see if they can take care of business in one of their easiest games left (they also finish the season against the tanking Pacers then Bucks) against a Wizards squad that’s eager to lose.
And in the meantime, you can check out our Harrison Grimm’s look at the East playoff picture and who else you should be rooting for down the stretch to help secure the best possible seed for the Sixers. Right now, there’s just three wins between the fifth-seed Hawks (43-33) and 10-seed Hornets (40-36).
In the little of the regular season we have left, there’s a lot for most teams to play for.
Game Details
When: Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 PM ET
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
