3 observations after Sixers lose to Beal-less Wizards, end homestand 4-1

The Sixers couldn’t seal a perfect homestand Wednesday night.

They fell to a 106-103 loss to the Wizards at Wells Fargo Center, finishing a five-game stretch in Philadelphia with one defeat.

Joel Embiid scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

Tyrese Maxey had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Tobias Harris posted 18 points and nine boards.

The Wizards were led by Kyle Kuzma’s 24 points.

Washington was missing star guard Bradley Beal (left wrist sprain) and center Thomas Bryant (right ankle sprain), while the Sixers were without Seth Curry (back spasms), Furkan Korkmaz (left knee soreness) and Shake Milton (back contusion).

“I don’t think we looked past them," Maxey said. “Every single game in the NBA is important, especially when you’re fighting for a playoff spot and trying to win in the East. They made some tough shots, made some big shots, and we missed some. ... At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if they don’t have their best player. They still have guys over there that are very talented.”

The 31-20 Sixers will face the Mavericks on Friday night in Dallas. Here are observations on their loss to Washington: 

Slow start without Curry

With Curry and Korkmaz out, Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle were the Sixers’ first-unit wings. 

Though Thybulle made a three-pointer on the team’s first possession, the Sixers didn’t start strong. Transition defense was problematic as Washington scored the game’s first seven fast-break points and took a 19-13 lead.

Maxey responded with five consecutive Sixers points on a driving dunk and step-back three. He’s found a sweet spot lately between patient, traditional point guard play and aggressive individual spurts when that’s the Sixers’ best form of offense. The Rising Stars Challenge selection reached double digits in first-quarter scoring for a second straight game, recording 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. 

Thybulle guarded Spencer Diwnwiddie (14 points on 4-for-16 shooting, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) like the All-Defensive Team player he is. He had two highlight rejections in the second quarter, swatting a short Dinwiddie jumper after walling off his drive and blocking an Aaron Holiday three. The mere threat of Thybulle blocks is an important tool in his arsenal. Even when the Wizards hit him with ball screens, it was noticeable that Dinwiddie was wary of Thybulle’s presence nearby and knew releasing the ball could be risky. 

Thybulle did make a big mistake late in the fourth on Dinwiddie, getting beaten for a backdoor layup.

Tempo a key for Embiid 

Embiid was back in the lineup after resting for the Sixers’ overtime win Monday over the Grizzlies.

The back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Month nailed his first shot, a mid-range jumper over Daniel Gafford, but then missed his next five. 

Embiid entered his second stint with a different approach. He converted his next three field goals — an and-one hoop on Gafford, a pull-up jumper before the Washington defense was fully set, and an isolation basket against Montrezl Harrell — by looking to play quickly and attack before double teams could bother him. That’s almost always been a fruitful formula this season, especially because Embiid’s decision-making has improved to the point that he can make the right reads even when he’s moving fast and his teammates’ locations aren’t entirely predictable. 

“I thought early on, he was waiting for them to double team instead of attacking," Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said of Embiid. “And then once he started attacking, we were much better. But we didn’t start the game off with any pace — with Joel and everyone. And that allowed them to stay in the game.”

Though Embiid put the Sixers up 64-61 with a loud dunk early in the third period, he didn't settle into an extended groove. As we've noted many times before, he still tends to post big numbers on relatively off nights.

The Sixers trailed by three points when Embiid checked in for his final stint. He gave the team a 90-88 edge on a beautiful dish to Georges Niang, one of his six assists.

Embiid stormed to the rim seeking a game-tying layup with the Sixers down 102-100 and couldn't convert. Rivers appeared to believe his star big man should've had two foul shots, but the officials disagreed.

“I thought he may have gotten fouled. It was a game of foul calls," Rivers said. “You just feel like every play there was a foul call tonight and then the biggest play of the game, there was no foul call. But it is what it is.”

Wizards rookie Corey Kispert hit a pair of free throws following Embiid's miss and Washington closed out a surprising win despite a three from Green with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Relative lack of depth plays role

Rivers played a lineup with four bench players alongside Harris. As expected, that shifted a higher shot creation burden to Harris, which was a mixed bag. 

Two-way player Myles Powell served as backup point guard in the first half. He had a decent on-paper matchup against a smaller guard in Raul Neto, but the former Sixer beat him with an and-one leaner that built the Wizards’ lead to 43-34 early in the second quarter. 

Rivers pointed to the dearth of ball handling options Wednesday as the reason for Powell's inclusion in the rotation. He was critical of the 24-year-old's four minutes on the floor.

“Well, he was the only other guard," Rivers said. “There wasn’t a lot of thinking in that, it was just that we needed another guy. And he didn’t handle it very well, honestly. For me it was more the defensive end for Myles. Anybody can get the ball up the floor, but we’ve got to keep the ball in front of us. And I never thought he did that.”

The Sixers played a zone defense after a second-period timeout, hoping a change of scheme could get them a rare stop. That possession went poorly, ending in a wide-open Kuzma three-pointer. Washington began the game 20 of 33 from the floor and had 50 points within 19 minutes. 

Just like against the Grizzlies, Isaiah Joe’s shooting was a bench bright spot. He looks worthy of minutes when Korkmaz returns. Joe and the Sixers struggled with defensive rebounding, but that’s not a great reason to keep him off the floor given the team’s season-long rebounding issues regardless of personnel. If there’s a manageable matchup size-wise and Joe’s not in a deep shooting slump, he generally looks like he’s got a good chance at helping this team. At a minimum, it can’t hurt to explore his fit a bit more and assess his potential. 

Joe scored 11 points in his 25 minutes on 4-for-7 shooting, including a three off of an Embiid post feed that gave the Sixers a 74-72 lead late in the third quarter.

The Sixers' offense looked rough at times with him playing backup point guard early in the fourth, though. Difficult spot for Joe, who's clearly more comfortable firing jumpers than initiating offense.

Washington's bench outscored the Sixers' by a 53-27 margin. Kispert, Harrell and Rui Hachimura all had double-figure scoring nights.