National Basketball Association
Washington 109, Philadelphia 93
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 14, 2017
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District of Columbia
Officials:
#34 Kevin Cutler, #28 Kevin Scott, #4 Sean Wright
Attendance:
17880
By The Sports Xchange
WASHINGTON -- Slow starts remain an issue for the Washington Wizards. Just not a major one as long as John Wall is around for fast finishes.
Wall scored 25 points and Bradley Beal had 20 as the Washington Wizards defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 109-93 on Saturday night for their 11th straight home win.
Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 10 rebounds as five starters scored in double figures for the Wizards (20-19). Markieff Morris added 14 points.
Washington, which lagged early in recent games, trailed by 13 points in the second quarter despite Philadelphia (12-26) playing without star rookie Joel Embiid. Yet Washington entered halftime tied 56-56 and then outscored Philadelphia 30-15 in the third quarter before leading by 24 in the fourth.
"It starts with me," Wall said. "When I'm not aggressive on both ends of the floor, it kind of slows our team down. I have to do a better job of that. (In the second quarter) I started to pick it up and then everyone else started to pick it up and we started to play better."
Philadelphia had won three straight games for the first time since a four-game win streak during the 2013-14 season.
Jahlil Okafor scored a season-high 26 points for the 76ers. Ersan Ilyasova had 18, but all in the first half.
Despite no Embiid, who was rested for the second game of a back-to-back set, Philadelphia shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but finished at 41.4 percent overall.
"I thought we came out with great energy. I thought our pace was excellent. I thought sharing the ball was good," 76ers coach Brett Brown said. "But you just felt something a little bit funny with about 3-4 minutes left in the second period."
The Wizards have won four of five. The home streak, the current longest in the NBA, is Washington's lengthiest since the Bullets won 11 in a row during the 1988-89 season.
Injuries to his right pinky and left wrist hampered Wall in Wednesday's 117-108 loss at the Boston Celtics. The point guard was 4 of 21 from the field and wasn't certain to play in the rematch against Philadelphia.
Instead, Wall played with a small splint to help stabilize the pinky. He finished with seven rebounds and seven assists while hitting 9 of 17 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
"It worked so I'll keep using," a smiling Wall said of the splint.
Wall and Beal combined for 21 points in the second quarter and the three-time All-Star's layup started a 7-0 run opening the second half. He later sank three straight 3-pointers in third quarter.
"That guy is a gamer," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said of Wall. "He has that burning that desire to compete."
Washington led 86-71 entering the fourth quarter before the reserves pushed the lead to 99-75.
Okafor, who started for Embiid after not playing the previous four games because of Brown's decision, and Ilyasova dominated offensively in the first half. They scored 34 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the floor with Ilyasova's putting the crisp 76ers up 43-30.
"It felt good to be back on the court," said Okafor, whose role remains uncertain once Embiid returns.
The offense went stale from there. Philadelphia went 4 of 17 on 3-pointers in the second half. Nik Stauskas missed all seven of his 3-point attempts and finished 1 of 9.
"Anything that we do has to be team related," Brown continued. "You're not just going to give a ball to John Wall with us and watch him take over a game like he did in the third period. We don't have one of those."
Philadelphia defeated Washington 109-102 at home on Nov. 16. Embiid and Beal also sat out that game.
Otto Porter scored 10 points for Washington. He left in the second half with a right hip strain but said he was fine postgame.
NOTES: Wizards G John Wall was fined $15,000 by the NBA for his role in a postgame skirmish on Wednesday in Boston. Celtics F Jae Crowder, the other primary participant, was fined $25,000. ... 76ers C Jahlil Okafor started in order to allow big man Nerlens Noel to remain in his regular rotation spot off the bench, coach Brett Brown said. Okafor scored 19 points in 20 minutes against Washington in the previous meeting, which C Joel Embiid also missed. ... Wizards G Tomas Satoransky (illness) was available after missing the previous two games. ... Washington plays host to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday with a special afternoon tip on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The same afternoon, Philadelphia plays at the Milwaukee Bucks.
Top Game Performances
Philadelphia |
|
Washington |
Jahlil Okafor 26 |
Scoring |
John Wall 25 |
T.J. McConnell 6 |
Assists |
John Wall 7 |
Nerlens Noel 12 |
Rebounds |
Marcin Gortat 10 |
Jahlil Okafor 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Tomas Satoransky 4 |
Ersan Ilyasova 1 |
Steals |
Kelly Oubre Jr. 2 |
Gerald Henderson 1 |
Blocks |
Marcin Gortat 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Philadelphia
|
93 |
41.4 |
10-31 |
11-21 |
20 |
49 |
2 |
6 |
16 |
Washington
|
109 |
48.4 |
8-17 |
13-18 |
18 |
50 |
2 |
9 |
11 |
Upcoming Games
-
Washington will play their next game at home against Portland. The Wizards have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .632 after a loss.
-
Philadelphia will play their next game on the road against Milwaukee. The 76ers have a W/L % of .385 after a win and .280 after a loss.