Four takeaways from 76ers' win over the Wizards

Harris was downright disastrous from a shooting perspective Wednesday evening, connecting on just 3-of-13 shots from the field. He also finished minus-seven in 31 minutes of action. For someone making a resounding $36 million per season, that’s simply not going to cut it.

On the other hand, third-year guard Shake Milton was brilliant when replacing Harris on the court. The former second-round pick scored 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Even more eye-opening, he was plus-33 in 30 minutes of action. Sure Milton is your traditional 2-guard and Harris plays small forward. But it might now be time for the 76ers to swap the two in their starting lineup.

Russell Westbrook dazzles in Wizards debut

It was one of the biggest blockbuster trades around the NBA world this past offseason. The Washington Wizards acquiring Westbrook in a trade with the Houston Rockets for John Wall.

While Wizards fans have love for the injury-plagued Wall, getting someone of Westbrook’s ilk in return to team up with Bradley Beal seemed to be a marriage made in heaven.

Westbrook more than proved that in his debut with the Wizards against what many expected to be a superior Philadelphia 76ers team Wednesday evening. The triple-double machine more than lived up to that moniker, scoring 21 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out 15 assists in a six-point loss.

Wizards need to get more production from the frontcourt

We already know that Westbrook and Beal will be doing most of the scoring for this Wizards team. That’s how they planned it when they acquire Russ. However, the team’s starting frontcourt has to assist from a scoring perspective more than what we saw during Wednesday’s loss.

Rookie Deni Avdija, Isaac Bonga and Thomas Bryant combined to score just 22 points on 9-of-18 from the field. Sure they were efficient, but the trio must be more willing to take shots. It will help when Rui Hachimura returns from a freak injury. Davis Bertans also performed well off the bench. With that said, this has to be a bit concerning.

76ers new backcourt struggles

Despite the brilliant play of Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons Wednesday evening, there’s a potentially concerning theme for new 76ers head coach Doc Rivers. Philadelphia went out there and acquired Seth Curry and Danny Green to help the team’s perimeter shooting after major struggles over the past few seasons.

Curry and Green did absolutely nothing to prove that they are the answers here. The duo shot 1-of-9 from three-point range, scoring a combined 15 points. This didn’t help a 76ers squad that shot 29 percent from distance despite Wednesday’s win. And it has to be of some concern for Rivers.