Scene Setter:
WASHINGTON – Back to work go the 76ers (8-51) on Monday, as they complete their 13th set of back-to-back games this season. They’ll do so by taking on the Washington Wizards (28-30) for the second time in four days, and third time this month. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM EST at Verizon Center.
Having difficulty matching the Orlando Magic’s intensity at the outset of Sunday’s contest at Amway Center, the Sixers first found themselves down by 14 points following the opening quarter, and then by 26 points at halftime. At that juncture, they trailed 77-51. With members of the reserve corps stepping up after intermission, the Sixers mounted a 21-7 spurt to close the third period, and give themselves a shot – albeit a remote one – at threatening Orlando’s lead, which had once stood at 29 points. The Sixers scrapped back to within eight points with one minute, 45 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, but the Magic scored seven of the tilt’s last eight points to post a 130-116 victory. While the Sixers set a new season-high for points scored, they also tied a season-high in points allowed. Jahlil Okafor cranked out 26 points (12-18 fg) to pace the Sixers. Jerami Grant turned in a stellar two-way effort with 13 points (4-7 fg, 5-8 ft), eight boards, three steals, and five blocked shots. Navigating through a tricky stretch of their schedule, the Sixers, as they did in Sunday’s loss to Orlando, again on Monday face an opponent flirting with playoff contention. Behind a promising start to the post All-Star break stretch of their schedule, the Washington Wizards (28-29) have put themselves in position to make a run. With LeBron James sitting out, they handled the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon, 113-99. John Wall burst for 18 first-half points, en route to finishing with 21 points overall. He also dished out 13 assists, and grabbed seven rebounds. Forward Otto Porter generated 21 points as well. Neither he, Wall, nor starting center Marcin Gortat appeared in the fourth quarter, due to Washington having built up a 26-point cushion through three periods. The win was the Wizards’ fifth in seven games, and, as of Monday, moved them to within two games of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Series: Just last Friday, the Sixers and Washington went up against each other at The Center. In their soundest defensive effort since the All-Star break, the Sixers limited the Wizards to 48 points in the opening half of an eventual 103-94 defeat. The Sixers also held one of the more efficient shooting teams in the NBA, Washington concluded the weekend 11th in the league in field goal percentage, to 42.6 percent from the floor. A John Wall-inspired 13-0 surge bridging the third and fourth quarters decided the contest. The All-Star point guard produced a box line highlighted by his game-best 23 points (9-19 fg), eight rebounds, and 11 assists. He got help from the starting frontcourt tandem of forward Jared Dudley and center Marcin Gortat, who combined for 26 points and 14 rebounds. Jahlil Okafor notched his 22nd 20-plus point game of the season, with 21 points (9-13 fg). Robert Covington manufactured a 12-point (4-9 fg), 12-rebound double-double. The Sixers fell to the Wizards at Verizon Center on February 5th, 106-94 in their first confrontation of the season. Subplots:
About 15 minutes after Sunday’s 130-116 setback to the Orlando Magic, Brett Brown stood in the corridor outside the visitor’s locker room at Amway Center, weaving the themes of transparency and accountability throughout his post-game press conference. Those two elements were also central to the talk he gave his team at halftime, when the Sixers were behind 77-51.”You go right to the truth,” Brown said of the approach he used in addressing his team at intermission. “You show about 12 edits of things that just aren’t acceptable, that aren’t professional, that aren’t anything we stand for or drill at, and you call them out is what you do.””For the most part, I feel like we’ve gained the respect of the league that we play hard,” continued Brown. “We haven’t done that much since the All-Star Break. I don’t know why, but that’s a fact. And that’s hard to swallow.”Brown has made it clear in recent days that he’s looking for more from the Sixers on defense, which seems to be at the root of the club’s issues at present. The Sixers have yielded at least 120 points in four of six outings on the heels of the All-Star Break. In the process, the team has been unable to capitalize on quality offensive showings during this same stretch.”We need to define who we are,” Brown asserted. Jerami Grant, who turned in arguably the Sixers’ top defensive effort Sunday with a team-best eight rebounds and season-high tying five blocks, agreed. “Obviously, in the first half, we let them score 77 points,” said Grant. “[Brown] was heated. We were all heated. Everybody was mad and fed up with what was going on. We responded the right way in the second half.”The Sixers did outscore the Magic 65-53 in the second half. The objective will be to apply and sustain that type of performance from start to finish of Monday’s game with Washington. “I think we picked it up in the second half, but it was a little bit too late,” Grant said. “We made a couple of runs in the second half, but I think we have to start off the way we finished the game.”
Two minutes and five seconds into Sunday’s third quarter, Brett Brown subbed Jerami Grant in for Nerlens Noel. It would be his final appearance on the court for the night. Noel’s evening ended with 10 points (4-7 fg), three rebounds, and one block in 17 minutes. Afterwards, Brown admitted, “You know what, people are going to look at Nerlens [Noel], and it’s not entirely fair. Everybody was poor. He just happened to take a hit.”Brown later added, “Then I thought Jahlil [Okafor] came in and did some decent things offensively. At times, you walk that fine line of you need some points, but you need to get some energy, some sparks, some defense.”Brown was searching for someone to counter Orlando center Nik Vucevic, who put up 28 points (13-18 fg) and six rebounds.”He’s a good player,” said Brown, “And we had no answer for him.”Noel has been one of the Sixers’ premier defenders the past two seasons. At the end of his rookie campaign, he ranked first on the squad in defensive rating. This campaign, he’s first on the team in that category as well.
When last the Sixers and Washington met on Friday, John Wall played all 12 minutes of the third quarter. That development paid major dividends for the Wizards. Not only did the three-time All-Star tally 13 points, three rebounds, and four assists in the period, he netted six points amidst the pivotal 13-0 run that put the Wizards in front for good.T.J. McConnell was on the court and lined up opposite Wall down the stretch of the third frame. On the eve of the Sixers’ third run-in with Wall this season, McConnell, the rookie, reflected on some lessons he learned two days prior. “First things first,” said McConnell. “It’s not one-on-one defense, it’s defense as a team. He’s an All-Star. He does it on a daily basis. We just got to try and slow him down.”Wall has totaled 41 points, 21 rebounds, and 21 assists in two previous games against the Sixers. When the Sixers and Wizards paired up February 5th at Verizon Center, Wall recorded the first of his two triple-doubles this season. He’s come away from three of his last four outings with double-doubles.
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