PHILADELPHIA-The Wizards headed into Wednesday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers on a three-game losing streak. Losses to Indiana (Oct 28), Boston (Oct 30), and Philadelphia on Monday have taken some of the early season momentum that the Wizards had after the first four games. One of the bright spots during the losing streak has been the play of Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis has averaged 23.6 points per game along with 9.3 rebounds per game during the losing streak. Porzingis took full advantage in the absence of Sixers superstar Joel Embiid, but the Sixers still had former NBA MVP James Harden (23 points) & Tyrese Maxey (28 points) leading the way for Philadelphia. The Wizards made a change in their starting lineup on Monday adding former UVA star Anthony Gill to the starting lineup. Gill replaces the struggling Deni Avdija in the lineup. Gill scored 11 points in 25 mins, but will Gill’s new place in the starting lineup be enough to put Washington back on the right track?
Early in the game, both teams kept it close until 4:25 left in the 1st quarter when the Wizards would open things up. The Wizards would maintain the lead for the rest of the game, with their biggest lead being by twelve & would go on to win 121-111 picking up their 4th win of the year. Kristaps Porzingis continued his great play from the last three games in this one. Porzingis led the way for the Wizards with team-high 30 points & nine rebounds. Bradley Beal scored 29 points with five assists & Kyle Kuzma had 18 points with eight rebounds for Washington in the win.
Sixers' young star Tyrese Maxey had a game-high 32 points and four assists. Maxey continues to shine for Philadelphia while team leader Joel Embiid is out. James Harden had 24 points, 10 assists & 5 rebounds in the loss. The Sixers dropped to 4-5 on the season.
The Wizards will host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday at Capital One Arena at 7 PM. The question will be can the Wizards take advantage of a struggling Brooklyn team who recently fired head coach Steve Nash or Will the Nets get back on track? We will find out Friday in DC.
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