Healthy 76ers Rout Wizards, Who Immediately Trade for Trae Young Postgame

In the first game in almost 2 months where both Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford were available, the Philadelphia 76ers controlled the Washington Wizards for a comfortable 131-110 victory on Wednesday night. Philly has won 4 out of their last 5 games after a three-game losing streak.

Wednesday marked the Sixers’ 20th win of the season, as they improved to 20-15 and maintained the 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Washington’s rough season continues, and the Wizards drop to 10-26 this year, remaining the 14th seed in the East. However, they now have some more help.

For the first time in months, Philadelphia came into the game with a completely clean injury report. Along with the return of Oubre Jr. and Watford, the 76ers saw yet another game where Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George all played together. Oubre Jr. was rusty, only taking 4 shots in 20 minutes of play, but his defense was serviceable. Despite being healthy, Watford only saw 5 minutes on the floor on Wednesday as Nick Nurse will likely try to acclimate him for a few games before increasing his workload.

While Oubre Jr. and Watford didn’t make much of a contribution to the Sixers’ win, the trio of Maxey, Embiid, and George did. The efficiency from the three previous All-Stars was stellar as they combined for 73 points on 26/40 (65%) shooting from the field. It marked the first game that Maxey, Embiid, and George scored at least 20 points in the same game since George became a 76er in the 2024 offseason.

Unlike most games this season, Maxey didn’t need to rely on his scoring ability to lead the Sixers to a win. The 25-year-old guard scored 22 points in the game, shooting 9/15 from the field with all 6 of his misses being from deep. He utilized his passing precision, dropping in 8 assists, which is more than his season average.

Embiid has begun to look like his vintage self, and he continued that narrative on Wednesday. The Big Fella’s movement was crisp, and he was uber-efficient from all over the court, hitting 10 of his 14 shots and 7 of his 8 free throws for a game-high 28 points. He also knocked down a three-pointer in the effort. Embiid’s rustiness early in the season was evident, but tonight was a good sign for the future as he seems like he’s reverted back to his old ways.

George’s game was similar to Maxey and Embiid’s: methodical. PG was an all-around threat from the field, but also defensively. The veteran added 23 points on Wednesday, as well as 5 assists and 4 boards. His defensive efforts were his strong suit, locking down all who came his way.

Defense as a whole was the biggest advantage Philadelphia had over Washington, after their incredible efficiency. The 76ers held Washington to just 110 points, with 10 coming in garbage time in the final 2 minutes. VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and George were handsy all game long and utilized their strength and elusiveness to disrupt Washington.

Corey Kispert was not available on Wednesday due to “left hamstring injury management,” which was interesting, considering Kispert injured his hamstring in December and played 3 days ago, where he was just fine. CJ McCollum similarly was out with “quadriceps management,” yet he dropped 27 points the night prior and looked at the top of his game. It was a questionable decision to sit these two out, but the real reason why they sat out may have come out just a few minutes postgame. Washington dealt both Kispert and McCollum to the Hawks for a former All-NBA guard in 27-year-old Trae Young in a move looking to catapult the Wizards into playoff contention as soon as possible.

Philadelphia moves on to take on the Orlando Magic in Orlando on Friday, and the Trae Young-led Wizards will play the Pelicans the same day.

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