Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Wizards
Pros and Cons after Sixers-Wizards.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
Riding high after a statement win in Miami against the Heat, the Sixers traveled to the nation’s capital for a Martin Luther King Day matinee against the Washington Wizards. Here’s what’s on my mind following today’s game:
Pro: Georges Niang’s shooting returning to early season form
In the middle of December, Niang missed four games after being placed in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols. That ended a period of time in which he was quietly struggling.
In the 15 games prior to testing positive, Niang made just 34.9 percent of his three-point attempts. In a vacuum, that isn’t a terrible percentage, but as someone whose value is almost entirely derived from his shooting, it weakens the second unit when Niang goes cold.
Entering today, in his 10 games since returning from the health and safety protocols, Niang is shooting 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. Niang was able to give the Sixers another slight boost today, which is more than nearly anyone else on the team can say.
Especially with a weakened wing rotation, the Sixers need Niang to be reliable. And of late, he’s proven to be just that.
Con: Matisse Thybulle out at least one week
Thybulle took a scary fall during last week’s Sixers win at home over the Boston Celtics, and it caused a shoulder injury that the Sixers say will keep him out for at least one week.
There’s never a good time to lose your best perimeter defender, but losing Thybulle while Danny Green also nurses an injury is particularly detrimental to this team’s defense. Exhibit A: without Thybulle and Green, it was Tyrese Maxey who had to defend Wizards star Bradley Beal.
For as long as the team’s best two defensive wings are on the shelf, the Sixers will be asking for a whole lot from the likes of Tobias Harris and Furkan Korkmaz. Additionally, expect to see a lot of Charlie Brown, Jr. for the time being: his athleticism and defensive ability are must-haves while the Sixers await the return of their most reliable wings.
That leads us to…
Con: Sixers dominated by Wizards offense
The Sixers have had some stellar defensive performances of late. Predictably, without Thybulle or Green, they looked like a much different team on that end.
The biggest issue with today’s defensive performance was the team’s lack of discipline. The Wizards utilized 10 regular rotation players, and eight of them shot multiple free throws. The Sixers, meanwhile, only had two rotation players (Maxey, Joel Embiid) shoot multiple attempts from the line.
The Sixers went down early, and it felt like every time they tried to make a push, they’d fail to get a stop on the defensive end. Eight out of the 10 Wizards scored in double-figures. And that was the story of this one -- a death by a thousand cuts.