(Photo: Getty Images via Washington Wizards)
76ers 118
Wizards 113
November 29, 2017, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
It was a wacky Wednesday night game in Philadelphia. At first it looked like the Sixers would walk out of Wells Fargo Center with a blowout win. Then, in the fourth quarter the Wizards bench made it interesting. Things got more interesting with a foul strategy that was implemented by Scott Brooks. In the end, the home team came away with a 118-113 win. Here are our five takeaways:
Poor Shooting Start
The Wizards once again had trouble hitting their shots to begin the game. For the second night in a row, literally with this contest being the second of a back-to-back for the Wizards, they started shooting 4-of-16. The opening quarter saw Washington shoot a total of 7-of-24 from the field (29.2%) and surrendered 20 points in the paint. They were fortunate to be only down by 10 (28-18) after the first.
Things got uglier in the second quarter as the Wizards shot 8-for-21 and trailed by 18 (58-40) at the half. The Wizards shot 21-of-44 in the second half (47.7%). It’s an improvement but the poor shooting in the first half proved costly at the end.
Bradley Beal Exits Injured, But Returns
The Wizards biggest adversity right now is life without John Wall for approximately two weeks. The last thing they want is another star player going down. In the first quarter Beal was defending a breakaway layup and was elbowed by Jarryd Bayless. He fell to the ground, holding his face. He then headed to the bench clutching a towel as his nose was bleeding.
“Doctor gave me two options of going to the hospital or playing. I think we all know the answer to that one,” said Beal via NBCSW.
Beal was diagnosed with a right facial contusion and was listed as questionable to return. He sat out the entire second quarter but came back in the second half. Beal had cotton balls in his right nostril and his right eye was swollen.
Beal finished the game with 21 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of play. He would later foul out in the fourth quarter because of the Hack-A-Simmons strategy.
Crashing the Boards? What’s That?
The Wizards were out rebounded 64-35. Offensively they were out rebounded 21-7. On the defensive end they were out rebounded 43-28. Not a single player on the Wizards had double-digit rebounds. The Sixers had three players in double digits with Ben Simmons leading the way with 18 total boards. As a result, the 76ers won the second chance points battle 25-10.
Jodie Meeks Leads the Comeback
Meeks scored a season-high 21 points and was tied with Beal for second in scoring. He helped anchor a bench that helped contribute to a big fourth quarter to nearly pull off a comeback. The Wizards scored 48 points in the final quarter and trimmed as big as a 24-point deficit to as little as a three-point deficit. The Wizards’ 48-point fourth quarter tied a franchise mark for most points in the final quarter. The Bullets did it against Boston on November 15, 1985.
Speaking of the bench, they scored a total 116 points in the last two games. They played a big factor during Tuesday’s win over the Timberwolves and nearly helped the Wizards sweep the back-to-back.
Hack-A-Simmons Worked … At First
When in doubt, Hack-A-Simmons: that is the strategy that Brooks used in the fourth quarter to help the Wizards claw back into the game. Rookie Ben Simmons entered Wednesday’s game shooting only 56.6 percent from the charity stripe. Prior to the fourth quarter, Simmons was on the line five times. In the fourth quarter? 24 times. He hit half of his free throws in the fourth and the Wizards were able to trim the deficit to three with 3:35 left.
Then they got a little too excited and kept fouling. Bradley Beal and Kelly Oubre Jr. each fouled out as a result. Simmons also got comfortable behind the line as he made seven of his final 10 free throws. Either way, the creative idea by Brooks worked to an extent and made that fourth quarter all the more interesting.
Next Game: The Wizards head back to DC for a Friday night contest with the Pistons before embarking on a five-game road trip.