Washington Wizards try to steal first game of home-and-home with Sixers

The Washington Wizards will look to grab a win on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers before hosting them the next day.

Coming off of their best road win of the season, the Washington Wizards (16-24) will attempt to steal another one away from home on Tuesday when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers (26-14).

The Wizards haven’t fared well away from Capital One Arena with just a 5-17 record on the road. The Sixers, for their part, are tied for the least home losses in the league with a 17-3 record in the City of Brotherly Love. Tuesday won’t be easy, and the Wells Fargo Center wasn’t kind to the Wizards earlier this year: They lost by 25 in a November 30 matchup, 123-98.

Despite some internal turmoil, such as Jimmy Butler expressing frustration with his role in the offense or Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons not on the best of terms, the Sixers continue to pick up victories, winning 6 of their last 8 games. They’re currently fourth in the Eastern Conference standings, just 3 games out of the top seed.

Meanwhile, the Wizards are that many games outside of the playoff picture. This game will surely be a difficult test, but Washington isn’t in a position to throw away games if they’re going to get back into the postseason.

Let’s take a look at the game details below.

Game Info

Game: Washington Wizards at Philadelphia 76ers

When: Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Where: Wells Fargo Center

TV: NBC Sports Washington, Fubo TV

Tip-Off Time: 7 pm Eastern Standard Time

Injury Report

Wizards: Dwight Howard (Lumbar microdisectomy procedure-Out), John Wall (Heel-Out), Markieff Morris (Transient cervical neurapraxia-Out)

76ers: Markelle Fultz (Shoulder/Wrist-Out), Justin Patton (Foot-Out), Zhaire Smith (Foot-Out)

Projected Starting Lineup

Wizards: G-Tomas Satoransky, G-Bradley Beal, F-Trevor Ariza, F-Jeff Green, C-Thomas Bryant

76ers: G-Simmons, G-J.J. Redick, F-Butler, F-Wilson Chandler, C-Embiid

Prediction

The Sixers’ star power is definitely one of the most intimidating in the league. Simmons, Butler, and Embiid can all dominate a game in very different ways. Simmons is a triple-double threat, Butler is tough as nails on both ends of the floor, and Embiid is a beast down low.

The Wizards don’t have anybody who can go directly toe-to-toe with any of them, but they proved in their blowout win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday that the sum can be greater than its parts.

Beal will undoubtedly step up as a scorer: He’s put up at least 20 points in 31 games this season, which leads the Eastern Conference. What will make the difference is how effective the rest of the team, especially the role players.

Between Otto Porter, Ariza, and Green, the Wizards have enough forwards to throw at Butler and even match up against the taller Simmons running the point. It’s Embiid who could feast on the Wizards’ thin frontline and give youngster Bryant and the foul-prone Ian Mahinmi more than they can handle.

How the Wizards limit Embiid will be the deciding factor, not just because of his scoring, but because of his rebounding too. The Sixers are third in the league in rebounds per game; the Wizards are third-to-last, and are especially undersized now due to injuries. Point being, undersized from the get-go and overmatched from a talent standpoint at center, it will take a collective rebounding effort from the forwards, and even guards like Beal and Satoransky.

In the end, the Sixers have too many ways to beat a shorthanded team like the Wizards and are exceptionally impressive on their own home floor, so it’s not the recipe for a Wizards win. Fortunately, they’ll get another chance when they host the Sixers on Wednesday night.

Final Score: PHI – 108, WSH – 96