PHILADELPHIA _ Call it the Brotherly Love celebration, Part Two.
The 76ers hosted another NBA game that was more like a party for the Eagles. The only difference was that Tuesday was a Super Bowl winning celebration instead of a pep rally. And just like on Friday's matchup, the Sixers fed off the energy, taking a 115-102 victory over the Washington Wizards at the Wells Fargo Center.
The win enabled the Sixers to improve 26-25 and win two of their last three games. They also handed the Wizards (31-23) their first loss in six games since losing All-Star point guard John Wall to a knee injury.
Joel Embiid finished with 27 points going with 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Dario Saric added 20 points and seven rebounds. JJ Redick had 18 points while making 4 of 5 3-pointers. Ben Simmons added 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
Washington guard Bradley Beal led all scorers with 30 points.
The Sixers broke the game open with a 20-2 outburst to take a commanding 30-9 lead on T.J. McConnell's 11-foot fadeaway jumper with 3 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first quarter. They went on to lead by as many as 22 points with 8:05 left in the second quarter.
The Sixers thrived off the environment created by the Eagles.
Eagles offensive linemen were among the Super Bowl champions who were the bell ringers before the start of the game.
The team had a special video for the Eagles in the second quarter. The Sixers cheerleaders and dunk squad led the crowd in singing "Fly, Eagles, Fly" while waving green pom-poms. Sixers fans, many who were wearing Eagles jerseys, broke into 26 "E-A-G-L-E-S chants throughout the game. There was even a faint "(Expletive) Tom Brady" chant in reference to the Patriots quarterback.
Meanwhile, sidelined Sixers rookie Markelle Fultz gave an interview to TNT sideline reporter Caron Butler. The two are both represented by sports agent Raymond Brothers. The Sixers have not cleared the first overall pick in June's draft to do interviews with local media because he is not a full participant at practice.
Tuesday marked the 47th consecutive game Fultz has missed while trying to find his shooting touch.
"It's been a long journey just trying to relearn it," he told TNT. "I'm just going through it and I want to get back out there as quick as I can. But it's been a slow process."
The Sixers declined to make Fultz available to the local media after the game. The team said it learned at the last minute that Brothers set the interview up with TNT. The team said that Fultz's representatives only wanted to make him available to Butler.
