PHILADELPHIA _ 76ers president Bryan Colangelo was basically asked Friday morning if his team was tanking.
It seemed like an obvious question after the Sixers traded away their best shooter in Ersan Ilyasova and an accomplished rim-protector in Nerlens Noel.
But Colangelo calmly looked the questioner in the eyes and said: "Dario Saric."
"He answered that question for us that he is capable of moving into a much more significant role," Colangelo added. "If you look at the path of our basketball team in the last month, month and a half, Dario has performed as even or above Ersan."
Friday night Saric made Colangelo seem like a prophet.
The power forward, who had been Ilyasova's backup, led the Sixers to a 120-112 upset over the Washington Wizards at the Wells Fargo Center. The rookie finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal in his first start since Feb. 2 at the San Antonio. This was just his 12th start of the season.
But he wasn't the only standout for the Sixers (22-35).
Small forward Robert Covington had a team-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three assists. He made five 3-pointers. Shooting guard Gerald Henderson had 10 points.
Richaun Holmes also proved that he can handle the larger role he's receiving due to Noel's trade. The second-year reserve center added 12 points, 10 rebounds and a game-high five blocks.
Meanwhile, center Jahlil Okafor had 11 points. Reserve shooting guard Nik Stauskas had 11 points and point guard T.J. McConnell added 10 points, eight assists and two steals.
The Sixers shot 49.4 percent from the field and scored 58 points in the paint. The game resembled a layup line for them. They shot 13 of 22 (59 percent) in the third quarter. Ten of those baskets came on layups or dunks.
Their offensive production negated a combined 69 points by the Wizards guards. Shooting guard Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 40 points on 15-for-25 shooting. All-star point guard John Wall had 29 points, a game-high 14 assists, eight rebounds and two blocks. Center Marcin Gortat had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Wizards (34-22) entered the game with a four-game winning streak and had won 10 of their 11 games.
The Sixers were up by 22 points with 7 minutes, 4 seconds to play. Washington pulled within four points on a pair of Wall foul shots with 22.9 seconds remaining.
But Stauskas hit a pair of foul shots with 21.9 seconds left. Then McConnell got a defensive rebound on the ensuing possession. He passed the ball up court to Henderson, who went on to sink a pair of foul shots that gave the Sixers an eight-point margin with 7.7 seconds left.
Before the game, the Sixers were being criticized in some quarters for not getting what some viewed as equal value in the trades.
They acquired Tiago Splitter and a protected second-round pick from the Atlanta Hawks for Ilyasova on Wednesday. The Sixers also have the right to swap another second-rounder in June's draft.
Meanwhile, they acquired Justin Anderson and Andrew Bogut and top-18-protected first-round pick in June's draft from the Dallas Mavericks for Noel on Thursday. If the pick lands outside of the first 18 slots, the Sixers will receive Dallas' second-round picks in the 2017 and 2020 drafts.
Noel, who had been the Sixers backup center, is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. He is expected to command a lot of money in free agency. The Sixers did not want to match a lucrative offer to keep someone they deemed as a reserve.
In regards to Ilyasova, the Sixers offered him a one-year deal past this season. However, the power forward wanted multiple years. So the team decided to trade him instead of not receiving anything while losing him in free agency.
"As we move forward, there are a lot of bright things on the horizon," Colangelo said. "We are experiencing a lot of brightness right now."
He pointed out that the Sixers' young core _ which includes Saric and Holmes _ is getting better.
"We are moving forward to the future," Colangelo said, "and the future is closer than many people realize."
Anderson did not see any action against the Wizards.
