The Sixers got off to a strong start to their 2020-2021 campaign by beating out the Washington Wizards by a score of 113-107.
The first regular season game with their revamped roster and coaching staff turned out to be a hard-fought game with the also new and improved Washington Wizards. The Sixers started out with a strong first quarter with their bench being the highlight led by a pair of threes by Furkan Korkmaz to give the Sixers the lead at the end of the first by a score of 30-26. After the honeymoon first quarter, the second quarter was shaky with the Sixers making a few careless turnovers. However, they kept the game close with the score being 59-58 in favor of the Wizards at the half.
The Sixers then got off to a cold start to begin the second half, going nearly a full five minutes without scoring the ball. Afterwards, Joel Embiid showed how clutch he can be in the fourth quarter by scoring 15 of his 29 points in the fourth frame. By the end of the game, the Sixers had statistically dominated the Wizards in just about every category. The Sixers ended up prevailing to win by a score of 113-107.
Statistically for the Sixers, Joel Embiid was the player of the game with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Ben Simmons put up 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Tyrese Maxey had a solid debut putting up 6 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes of play. Shake Milton provided a spark plug off the bench, scoring 19 points, getting 3 assists, and 3 steals.
For the Wizards, Russell Westbrook secured his first triple-double of the season, putting up 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 15 assists. Westbrook also made a highlight play by finishing a tough layup on both Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Bradley Beal was their leading scorer with 31 points. Davis Bertans, who couldn't seem to miss from long range, scored 14 points off the bench while also shooting 4-6 (66%) from beyond the arc.
It is worth noting that after the game, Dwight Howard and Ben Simmons come back out onto the court to get in an extra shoot around together. Ben Simmons has said that it was Dwight Howard that pushed him to put in some extra time on his jump shot.
The Sixers’ next game is against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday at 7:30 PM ET. Fan can watch the game on NBC Sports Philadelphia, NBA TV, or listen on the radio at 97.5 The Fanatic.
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