WASHINGTON — The 76ers finally did what they’re supposed to do against an undermanned opponent: Blow them out.
Sunday marked their fifth straight game against an opponent missing an All-Star-caliber player because of COVID-19 or an injury. And the Washington Wizards had no chance.
The Sixers rolled to a 117-96 victory at the Capital One Arena.
The victory improved the Sixers to 17-16 and marked their second win in three games after losing three straight.
Meanwhile, the Wizards (17-16) had their two-game winning streak snapped.
On this night, the Sixers prevailed with a balanced attack.
Joel Embiid had game highs of 36 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks to go with a steal. Tobias Harris added 23 points, seven rebounds and a steal.
Reserve Furkan Korkmaz (14 points), Tyrese Maxey (13) and Seth Curry (11) were the Sixers’ other double-digit scorers.
Spencer Dinwiddle paced the Wizards with 17 points.
Washington was without three-time All-Star Bradley Beal along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for the second-straight game because of being in COVID protocols. Raul Neto joined them for Sunday’s game. Meanwhile, Thomas Bryant (left ACL injury) was also sidelined. Rui Hachimura was in uniform but didn’t play. He still needs to get in game shape after time away from the team for personal reasons.
To be fair, the Sixers have also been undermanned because of injuries and health and safety protocols.
Shake Milton, Andre Drummond and Danny Green remain in protocols for the Sixers. George Niang returned to action after missing the past four games with COVID. Maxey was also cleared to play after being listed as questionable due to protocols. It appears the point guard was briefly placed in protocols because of an inconclusive COVID-19 test result.
Niang returns
Niang finished with six points in his return.
He first entered the game with 4 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first quarter. He initially looked a little fatigued and out of sorts in his first game in 13 days. Maybe he just had to knock some rust off and get his feet under him.
That’s because the reserve power forward buried his first shot attempt, a three-pointer, 59 seconds into the second quarter. On the ensuing possession, he grabbed a defensive rebound that led to a Korkmaz three-pointer at the other end. Then Niang added a three-pointer to knot the score at 37 with 9:47 left in the quarter.
He went on to score six points on 2-for-4 shooting to go with two rebounds and a steal during an 8:50 second stint in the first half. He finished with 2-for-6 shooting and five rebounds to go with that steal in 17:22.
Niang re-entered the game with 1:17 before intermission and grabbed his third rebound 23 seconds later.
Curry grits it out
Curry hit his left rib area while fouling Corey Kispet with 7:53 left in the second quarter. The Sixers shooting guard fell to the court and laid in pain for a minute before getting back to his feet. He remained in the game, but kept rubbing his left side during a timeout. Curry also rubbed his side while walking to the locker room at halftime.
But he played all but 1:25 of the quarter. The shooting guard played 35:05 for the game.
Things got testy
Embiid took exception to Montrezl Harrell fouling him with 3:04 left in the third quarter. The players had to be separated after Embiid approached the Wizards post player. They both received technical fouls on the play.
Embiid kept his cool after they were separated. He knocked down the pair of foul shots. Then Harrell dunked on him on the ensuing possession. But Embiid returned the favor by scoring a layup while being fouled by Harrell on the Sixers next possession. The Sixers’ four-time All-Star celebrated the play by yelling and pointing in the stands. Harrell took exception and shoved Embiid, drawing his second technical foul in 30 seconds. As a result, he was disqualified from the game.
Upset, Harrell kept yelling something in the direction of Embiid while leaving the court.
NBA firsts
Sixers rookie Jaden Springer (two points) and two-way player Myles Powell (three) scored their first NBA points in the fourth quarter.
Next up
The Sixers travel to Toronto for Tuesday’s game against the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors are 14-16 after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
