The Tank Continues, Sixers Fall To Wizards 119-114

In the quest to continue to tank, the 76ers lost 119-114 to the Washington Wizards Wednesday night, increasing their chances to stay in the top six of the draft and keep their first-round pick.

Guerschon Yabusele was the main man for the 76ers, finishing with 21 points and eight rebounds. Quentin Grimes was his high-scoring self but still contributed 22 points and two steals. Justin Edwards also recorded his first career double-double, finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and also had five steals.

For the Wizards, Alex Sarr and Justin Champagnie couldn’t miss. Sarr was all over the place in the win, finishing with 24 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks, while also hitting four threes, while Champagnie added 18 points and 10 rebounds, while hitting four threes of his own. Jordan Poole also added 18 points and seven assists.

As the game tipped off, Yabusele got the 76ers on the board early with an early layup. The Wizards got on the board quickly as well with Champagnie, Sarr, and Poole all knocking down early threes.

Yabusele answered back with back-to-back threes of his own, but Poole followed that up with a layup, and Bub Carrington drilled another three for Washington. Yabusele hit one of two free throws for his ninth point of the game however, the Wizards continued knocking down shots with Sarr and Carrington hitting layups, forcing Nick Nurse to call a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Jared Butler drilled a three, but was quickly answered by a three from Champagnie. Edwards got on the board with a five-foot layup, and Grimes followed that up with a three. However, the Wizards went on a big run.

Sarr kicked things off with a long three, and Champagnie followed that up with another three of his own. The Wizard’s center continued shooting the lights out as Sarr drilled his third three of the game. Champagnie grabbed a steal after a bad pass from Grimes and hit an easy layup to make it 33-17, Washington.

After another timeout from Nurse, Edwards drilled a long three, and Adem Bona followed that up with a ferocious dunk. Yabusele was called for goaltending on a shot from Sarr, and Grimes hit a pair of free throws.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. and Jaylen Martin traded layups, and Dowtin followed those shots up with his first three of the game. With under a minute left in the quarter, Tristan Vukcevic and JT Thor both knocked down layups, and Colby Jones drilled the Wizards’ ninth three of the quarter, just beating the buzzer to make it 45-29 Washington after 12 minutes.

In the second quarter, Yabusele drilled a three to kick things off. Phillip Wheeler, fresh off signing a 10-day contract, scored his first basket as a 76er with a layup. Vukcevic answered back with one of his own, and Butler knocked down a mid-range jumper.

The 76ers went on a small run with Yabusele hitting a technical free throw and Edwards hitting a mid-range bucket. Martin disrupted the run with a long three, but Edwards hit a layup, and Yabusele sped through the lane and threw down a monster dunk.

YABU!!! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fbuq3V530T

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 26, 2025

Vukcevic hit a pair of free throws, and Martin slammed a dunk of his own to put Washington up 11. Both teams then went three minutes without scoring a point until Grimes was fouled, hitting both free throws, and Ricky Council IV followed that up with a layup.

After four minutes and no points for the Wizards, AJ Johnson and Martin both slammed dunks. With just over two minutes until the half, Champagnie and Edwards traded short jumpers, while Sarr hit a layup and Bona answered with a dunk. Champagnie and Grimes then traded threes, and Pooler and Grimes each knocked down mid-range buckets. As the final seconds ticked down, Bona was unable to hit the last shot of the half, and the 76ers went into the break down 67-58.

Out of the break, Edwards hit a tip shot for the 76ers’ first bucket, but Poole answered quickly with a three, and Sarr followed that up with an easy layup. Poole and Grimes traded layups, and Yabusele followed that up with another slam dunk.

Johnson hit another layup, but Grimes drilled a long three and Edwards hit a layup to cut the 76ers’ deficit to seven points. Sarr and Edwards traded buckets, and Champagnie hit a six-footer. With their lead down to just nine, the Wizards doubled it quickly with Sarr hitting a three and Pooler hitting two of his own to make it 89-71.

As the third quarter rolled down, Butler drilled a three of his own, and Marcus Bagley hit a pair of free throws. Vukcevic and Wheeler traded twos while Council and Edwards each hit two-foot shots. Carrington knocked down a three, but was answered quickly by a triple from Butler. Just before the final buzzer of the quarter sounded, Jones drilled another three for the Wizards to make it 97-85 after three quarters.

With 12 minutes to play, Washington continued to score. Thor got things going with a dunk, and Vukcevic hit a mid-range bucket. Bagley and Vukcevic then traded dunks, and Dowtin hit a layup and Council drained a three. Council then hit a pair of free throws, but Vukcevic hit a mid-range floater.

The Wizards continued their attack as the quarter began to run down, as Jones hit a two-foot shot, and Johnson slammed a dunk and drilled a three on back-to-back possessions. Yabusele scored four straight for the 76ers, and Grimes drilled a three to make it an 11-point game.

After a timeout from the 76ers with just under three minutes to play, Grimes hit a pair of free throws to get the deficit to single digits. Martin and Bona traded two-point shots, and Butler drilled a three to make it a six-point game. As the final minute ticked down, the 76ers missed three layup attempts in a row before Dowtin was finally able to get a shot to fall to make it a four-point game.

With 38.3 seconds left, the Wizards avoided multiple steal attempts from the 76ers, but after wasting 20 seconds, Sarr was able to score a tough layup, putting Washington back up six. On the 76ers’ next possession, Council was fouled on his shot attempt and hit one of two free throws, and the Wizards grabbed the rebound.

After fouling, Jones missed both free throws, however, Yabusele’s shot on the other end was blocked after it was originally called goaltending. With almost no time remaining, the Wizards ran the clock out and held on for the 119-114 win.

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