Reliving every Washington Wizards Leap Day game in history

Leap Day, 2016: Wizards pull away from 76ers late

Matched up with a Philadelphia 76ers team firmly in the process of a rebuild, the Washington Wizards took care of business with a solid fourth quarter in the District at the Verizon Center. With Joel Embiid yet to make his regular-season debut for the Sixers, the Wizards dominated the glass and came away from a 116-108 win.

Ish Smith, who would later play three seasons for the Wizards, led the Sixers with 25 points and 7 assists in 33 and a half minutes of action. Smith's three made three-pointers were tied with Isaiah Canaan for the game-high among both teams.

Now in his sixth year in the NBA, John Wall broke the Leap Day franchise scoring record set by Phil Chenier 40 years prior, pouring in 37 points against the Sixers. Alongside Wall for the majority of the game was the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat. In 41 minutes, Gortat pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds.

What is in store for the Washington Wizards on Leap Day 2024?

As losers of 12 games in-a-row, the Washington Wizards have their work cut out for them in their trip out West to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.

Lakers star LeBron James is coming off an impassioned win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday, in which he scored 34 points with seven made threes. Although the Lakers come into Thursday's matchup off a big win, having to play against the Wizards in the second half of back-to-back games may end up working in favor of Washington.

A win on Thursday would put an end to the franchise's Leap Day pattern of trading off results with each win or loss. After eight games on the 29th of February, the Wizards have a 4-4 record in such games all-time. The Wizards will look to turn around their current misfortunes and pick up their second consecutive Leap Day victory against the Lakers on Thursday night.

Tip-off for Thursday's Leap Day clash between the Lakers and the Wizards is scheduled for 10:30 PM ET.