Scene Setter:The 76ers (7-42) and Washington Wizards (21-26) – whose home cities are separated by a mere 140 miles – face each other for the first time this year on Friday at 7:00 PM EST at Verizon Center. The Eastern Conference foes will then square off twice more before the end of February, at which point they’ll be finished with their three-game season series. Friday’s contest initiates the Sixers’ 11th set of back-to-back games this campaign.On Wednesday, the Sixers endured a 124-86 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta provided a stellar showing on both ends of the court, knocking down 52.2 percent of its shots and placing eight players in double-figures, while also forcing the Sixers to give the ball away 24 times. In a key statistical footnote from the game, the Hawks outscored the Sixers in points off turnovers, 29-13. Nik Stauskas collected a game-high 17 points, downing five of his seven field goal attempts. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor each deposited 10 points. The scoring prowess of two All-Star point guards highlighted the explosive offensive battle that unfolded between the Washington Wizards and Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in the nation’s capital. John Wall notched a season-high 41 points, going 17 for 25 from the field, but Steph Curry and Golden State proved to be just a little bit better. In a blistering display, Curry fired his way to 51 points. He racked up 25 points in the first quarter alone, and sunk 11 of his 16 tries from beyond the arc. With a 134-121 triumph, the Warriors sent Washington to its seventh loss in nine games.
Series: The Sixers and Washington will play the entirety of their three-game season series in the span of 24 days. The Sixers prevailed in one of four meetings with the Wizards a year ago, posting an 89-81 victory at The Center on February 27th. Defense was pivotal for the Sixers that night, as they allowed Washington to shoot a meager 32.3 percent from the field. On top of their lockdown defensive effort, the Sixers also excelled from beyond the arc, nailing 12 triples, four of which came from now-retired guard Jason Richardson. Nerlens Noel manufactured a double-double for the Sixers, totaling 14 points and 13 rebounds. John Wall scored 21 points and registered 11 assists. The Sixers are bidding for their first win at Verizon Center since November 1st, 2013, which was the second game of Brett Brown’s head coaching tenure with the club. Subplots:
During the final week of January, Jerami Grant surpassed his 68-block total from last season. Through 47 games this year, the forward has already turned aside 75 shots, like this futile lay-up attempt that Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder made on Wednesday at The Center. Grant ended Wednesday’s game with four blocks, the sixth time this campaign he’s reached that mark. Below is the list of company Grant keeps in terms of players that have also recorded multiple four-block performances on the season. As of Thursday, Grant’s 75 blocks tied Al Horford’s total for 11th-most in the NBA. Miami’s Hassan Whiteside has rejected a league-best 163 shots.
Examining Ish Smith’s six-year career is difficult to do without – at some point – making note that he’s appeared in at least one regular season game for nine different NBA teams. If you count pre-season play, however, Smith’s resume expands to feature a 10th organization.This fall, Smith latched on with the Washington Wizards, who inked him to a free agent contract on September 8th. He was given limited run during Washington’s exhibition slate, averaging just 11.5 minutes in five games. While Smith scored only 11 points (4-23 fg) in those five outings, he did manage to hand out 20 assists against five turnovers. Due to All-Star John Wall and seasoned veteran Ramon Sessions’ already having secured spots on Washington’s point guard depth chart, Smith was waived on October 24th. Smith, though, has certainly landed on his feet with the Sixers, averaging 15.4 points and 8.1 assists since being reacquired by the team on December 24th. He’s now aiming to help the Sixers bounce back from Wednesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.”You got to bring it every night,” Smith said after the Sixers committed 24 giveaways against Atlanta. He notched seven assists and two turnovers. “I feel like it starts with me. However many turnovers I had, one too many. I think that kind of sets the tone.” In the Wizards, the Sixers will take on another opponent that, like the Hawks, is proficient in generating and capitalizing on turnovers. Washington is tied for fourth in the NBA with 16.6 turnovers forced per game, and sits fifth in the league with an average of 18.4 points scored off turnovers per game.
Washington’s John Wall was the top pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, turning pro one year after Golden State’s Stephen Curry broke into the league. The two have gone on to establish themselves as elite performers, and have been selected for the All-Star Game each of the past three years. Wall ranks third in the NBA with 9.8 steals per game, while Curry is first in scoring, generating 29.8 points per contest. Wednesday, Wall and Curry went head-to-head in a match-up that produced one of the most entertaining individual showdowns of the season.”I was just being aggressive, doing whatever shots I had, trying to make it into a one-on-one battle,” Wall told reporters afterwards. He netted 41 points. Curry outdid him by 10 points. “He had 25 [points] in the first quarter, so he was very hot, got into a rhythm of getting cuts off lay-ups and stuff like that. So we tried to make adjustments, but he’s one of those players, when he sees those baskets go in, he’s kind of hard to stop.”Despite trailing by 15 points after Curry’s dominant opening period, the Wizards twice scrapped back to within two points in the third frame. The Warriors managed to regain control by closing the quarter on a 10-0 run.”We played with a lot of energy, we competed,” said Wall, whose team won 46 games last year. “We just got to take the way we competed tonight, and do that about the rest of the season, whoever we play, and give ourselves a lot of chances to win games.”
Sixers Health Report:
Elton Brand (conditioning)
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