Not really sure what happened in that game, to be honest. The Philadelphia 76ers were typically listless for two quarters in Washington, with Jahlil Okafor out with a shin contusion (sure) and Nerlens sitting the majority of the half, going into halftime down 12. Then the Sixers hopped a rocket ship in the third quarter on blasted off on a 26-6 run in the first seven minutes to go up eight — a lead, of course, that they gradually gave away over the next Q, ultimately to relinquish and never recover. Final Score: Wizards 116, 76ers 108.
At least it was proof that Okafor being out isn't a 100% panacea to what ails this team currently. Nerlens was somehow even worse in the first half of this one than he'd been the last few with Jahlil, picking up three fouls and virtually no other stats in minimal action, and Brett Brown had to go with a Carl Landry/Robert Covington frontcourt for much of the second quarter. (Not too surprising that Wizards center Marcin Gortat ended up with 20 rebounds in this one.) But Ish Smith turned up the volume in the third quarter, and after taking an end-of-shot-clock three that somehow dropped — his first-ever, in just the one attempt — Nerlens came alive on both sides of the ball, zooming in for rebounds and putback dunks, helping cement the team's comeback.
Then he, and everyone else except Ish (25 on 9-18 shooting, seven assists), seemed to run out of gas. Nik Stauskas had one of his better all-around games (three boards, three assists, two steals, no turnovers) but couldn't hit from range in key moments, ending just 1-6 from three. Robert Covington one-upped that, ending 1-7 from distance. And on the other side of the ball, absolutely nobody could do anything about serial Sixers torturer John Wall, who finished 37 and seven, easily the difference for Washington in the second half. (In three games against us this season, Wall is averaging a 26-8-9 on 50% shooting.)
Nine losses in a row now. Hard to know if there are any takeaways from this game except that this team plays better when fast and pressuring, when Ish is getting loose (and hitting triples — three of 'em in this one, as many as his last seven games combined), and when Nerlens actually seems to give a damn. At home against Charlotte on Wednesday, we'll see if Okafor's contusion gives this lineup another shot at a W, or if maybe it'll be Nerlens sitting with a bad ice-cream headache this time.