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Two nights after their most impressive win of the season in Oklahoma City, the Wizards ran into a road block Tuesday night in Philadelphia in the first half of a home-and-home series. Despite a quick start offensively for Washington, the Sixers soon took over on both ends of the floor, running away with a 132-115 victory. The win marked Philly’s fifth win in its last six games as it moved to 26-14, while the Wizards record now stands at 16-25.
From the outset, Tuesdays game seemed like it could certainly go much differently. The Wizards started hot out of the gate with four 3-pointers and a 14-4 run, shooting 58% from the field through the first quarter. But the Sixers responded just as fast with a 10-0 run of their own later in the frame to take back the lead, shooting over 60% from the field early.
It all started defensively for Philadelphia, which used 13 first-half Washington turnovers to score 18 points. The Sixers also dominated in the paint, outrebounding the Wizards 24-14 in the first half and outscoring them down low, 38-14. That added up to a 36-16 walloping in the second quarter that gave Philadelphia a 23-point lead at the break. Ben Simmons scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, while Jimmy Butler added 15 of his 20-point total. But it was rookie guard Landry Shamet who led the way for Philadelphia on the night, scoring a career-high 29 points. Joel Embiid tallied another double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
"We turned the ball over way too much," said Bradley Beal. "You can’t get beat by 20 points in a quarter for one. Every time we turned the ball over, they scored. We have to be a lot better in that aspect, myself included, doing a better job rebounding and getting out on the break. We have to be a lot more aggressive on offense, the effort wasn’t all the way there tonight, but we are playing again tomorrow so it is another good test for us."
Shamet broke out in the third quarter as he unleashed a 3-point barrage that helped the Sixers lead by as many as 31 in the frame. He shot a perfect 4-for-4 from deep in the quarter and hit eight 3’s on the night off the bench. Shamet’s shooting was a microcosm of the Sixers’ night as a team. They shot a scorching 55.7% from the field and an equally impressive 51.5% from 3-point range Tuesday, marks that made them impossible to catch in the second half.
For the Wizards, Bradley Beal was again a bright spot with an efficient 28 points in 31 minutes. Five other reached double-figures, including Jeff Green (15 points) and Sam Dekker (14 points).
Washington won’t have much time to linger on Tuesday night’s loss with a rematch with the Sixers coming Wednesday night in D.C. Tipoff is set for 7:00 P.M.