SIXERS RECAP: PHILADELPHIA 76ERS 125 Defeated WASHINGTON WIZARDS 108
December 23, 2019
The Philadelphia 76ers snapped their three-game losing streak as they beat the Washington Wizards, 125-108, and improved to 21-10 on the season. It’s the 76ers’ seventh straight home victory over Washington (Basketball-Reference).
The 76ers outrebounded the Wizards, 53-38, which is marked the 24th time Philadelphia has outrebounded their opponent. The team improved to 20-4 when doing so. It is the sixth game in which the 76ers have had 50-or-more rebounds and the team is 5-1 in such games.
Philadelphia matched their season-high in offensive rebounds with 16. Thirteen of their offensive rebounds came in the first half, which is a new season-high for the team. The last time the 76ers had 16 offensive rebounds was on Oct. 30 vs. Minnesota. When the 76ers have at least 10 offensive rebounds, they are 11-5 (Basketball-Reference).
In the first half, the 76ers outrebounded the Wizards, 35-23. The 35 boards are the most the team has posted in the first half this season. Last season, the team reached the mark in three first halves, with the last coming on Feb. 25 at New Orleans (NBA.com/Stats).
Washington Wizards vs Philadelphia 76ers – Game Highlights | December 21, 2019, | 2019-20 NBA Season
The 76ers shot .521 (49-94) from the field and .424 (14-33) from three-point range. It was the seventh time this season that the team shot at least 50-percent from the floor and 40-percent from beyond the arc in the same game, improving to 5-2 when doing so. Overall, the 76ers are 9-2 when shooting 50-percent.
For the game, the 76ers knocked down 14 three-pointers, which is just one shy of their season-high. Eight different 76ers made a three-point shot and four of their six bench players knocked down at least two from beyond arc. It is the sixth time this season they have hit 14-or-more threes and the team is 4-2 in those games (Basketball-Reference).
The 76ers handed out 28 assists on the night against the Wizards, compared to Washington’s 18. They are now 17-4 when recording equal-or-more assists than their opponent (Basketball-Reference).
Six different players scored in double figures for the 76ers, as the team now improves to a perfect 8-0 when at least six players score 10-plus points. Five of those six were the starters: JOEL EMBIID (21), TOBIAS HARRIS (16), AL HORFORD (13), JOSH RICHARDSON (21), and BEN SIMMONS (14). It is the first time all five starters have scored in double-figures since Nov. 30 vs. Indiana and the 76ers now post a 5-1 record when all five starters score 10-or-more.
Simmons finished the night with 14 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds and four steals. It is Simmons’ 13th double-double on the season and his ninth point-assist double-double. That puts him tied for third in the NBA in most point-assist double-doubles along with Phoenix’s RICKY RUBIO, and only behind Dallas’ LUKA DONČIĆ (12) and the L.A. Lakers’ LEBRON JAMES (20) (Basketball-Reference).
Simmons registered his 1,500th assist tonight in his 189th career game. He is the fastest 76ers player in team history to reach that mark. MAURICE CHEEKS was the previous-fastest as he recorded his 1,500th assist in his 236th game (Elias Sports Bureau).
With four steals, Simmons now has 17 games this season with multiple steals, only behind Chicago’s KRIS DUNN (18) for the most such games in the NBA. He leads the league with 64 steals and is the only player in the NBA to have six games with at least four steals. No other NBA player has more than four such games (Basketball-Reference).
Embiid is the seventh NBA player with 20 double-doubles this season after his 21 points and 13 rebounds against the Wizards. It is his sixth straight double-double overall (NBA.com/Stats).
Embiid picked up his 17th game this season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. The only player with more such performances this season is Milwaukee’s GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO. Embiid and Antetokounmpo are the only players in the NBA averaging at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and one block (NBA.com/Stats).
JOSH RICHARDSON scored 21 points on 9-17 (.529) shooting. It is his first 20-point game since Nov. 25 at Toronto, and his fifth this season (Basketball-Reference). Richardson has now scored double figures in five of his last six, and four in-a-row.
As Embiid and Richardson each posted 21 points tonight, the team improved to 12-5 this season when multiple players reach the 20-point plateau in the same game (Basketball-Reference).
Philadelphia scored 37 points in the fourth quarter, which is the most they have scored in the final period all season. They were led by rookie, MATISSE THYBULLE, who scored a team-high nine points in the fourth on 3-4 shooting, knocking down two three-pointers in the last 12 minutes.
Off the bench, TREY BURKE scored a reserve-high 12 points, shooting 5-6 from the field, hitting 2-3 three-pointers and matching his season high with five rebounds. Burke added two assists in 15 minutes of action.
The Wizards were led by two-time All-Star BRADLEY BEAL, who scored a game-high 36 points and was a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line. Beal added eight rebounds, six assists and two steals to his stat line.
NEXT UP: The 76ers hit the road to take on the Detroit Pistons on Monday, Dec. 23 at Little Caesars Arena. This is the second of three matchups between the two teams this season. The previous was won by the 76ers, 117-111, in Detroit. The Pistons played the Chicago Bulls tonight and lost, 119-107. For the season, the Pistons are led by ANDRE DRUMMOND, who is averaging a team-high 17.7 points per game and leads the NBA, averaging 16.4 rebounds per game. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and heard on 97.5 The Fanatic.