The Philadelphia 76ers were coming off an impressive win over a very good Memphis Grizzlies team on Monday where they were able to overcome a lot of adversity down their best player in Joel Embiid, but they could not keep the momentum going.
They started out flat on Wednesday falling behind by as many as 12 points, they fell to the shorthanded Washington Wizards at home 106-103. The Wizards were missing star guard Bradley Beal while also missing their starting center in Thomas Bryant, but the Sixers could not take advantage of the opportunity.
“Like coach said when he came in the locker room, it took us a long time to get going and we had a slow start,” said Tyrese Maxey. “It was hard for us to recover.”
Washington shot 45.6% from the floor while Philadelphia shot 45.1% themselves, but it was not a pretty game to watch. The Sixers had a lot of trouble in this game defending the Wizards and they didn’t exactly find an offensive flow.
“I didn’t think we didn’t play hard,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I just didn’t think we played well. We missed a lot of shots. I don’t think we had a lot of offensive rhythm the entire game. Spacing was poor, overall, just wasn’t my favorite game to watch as a coach.”
Philadelphia had trouble with Kyle Kuzma as he scored 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting and he knocked down four triples while also grabbing seven rebounds. It was a big game for him in order to lead Washington to a win.
“I thought he was defended a lot,” said Rivers. “He made some tough shots. The last couple shots were very difficult. We did let him get to his strong hand too much, lost him a couple times in transition, he’s playing really well right now.”
Maybe coming off the emotional win over the Grizzlies led to them having a really tough night overall. Whatever the case may be, the Sixers don’t want to use it as an excuse.
“You don’t wanna give yourself that excuse because we’re all professionals,” said Georges Niang. “We all gotta come in and play every game like it’s the next one. I think if we can come out in the first half and bring energy and continue to beat teams down the stretch and not go on a run and let them come back in, we’ll be better for it.”
Rivers had the same thought when asked if maybe this was a bit of a trap game for Philadelphia. One has to consider it with the Wizards being shorthanded and being on the second night of a back-to-back.
“I just consider it a loss,” Rivers stated. “Every night, when you win or lose games, sometimes you just lose a game. There’s no trick reason why. We won a game that a lot of people thought we shouldn’t have won the other night and we’re gonna win some games that we think we should win, but it’s no reason for them. Sometimes, they just show up and you live with them and you move on to the next game. At least that’s what I do.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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