[ WE Game Recap ] - Wizards at 76ers: Short-Wristed Wizards Lose in Philly

76ers 92 wizards 84
1/30/2013 - Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
ESPN Boxscore
NBA.com Game Highlights

The Wizards tried their darndest to fight their way back into the game against the Sixers but it was too little, too late. After leading in the first quarter, the Wizards let the game just slip away due to bad decision making and the inability to knock down wide open shots. With a brutal schedule coming up, bad shooting, bad passing and bad decision making was not too great of a start. The Wizards next few games consist of the Grizzlies, Spurs, Clippers, Knicks, and Nets. There is something to be said about the fight in this group of guys but we’ve said that all season long. Now WE expect to win them.

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For the second game in a row, Emeka Okafor was the MVP for the Wizards. After having his best game of the season against the Kings on Saturday, his encore performance did not disappoint. He pulled down a whopping 17 rebounds and looked every bit the rebounding machine he was at UConn. This was his ninth double digit rebound game in the last  twelve. While he scored 15 points, the Wizards didn’t take advantage of the size mismatch he had against Thaddeus Young. Either way, Okafor has been working hard to erase the memories of a sub par first half to the season.

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John Wall: Just as Bradley Beal couldn’t wait until Wall returned, John must be praying for Bradley Beal to get well soon. John clearly missed Beal’s presence tonight as he sat with a wrist injury. Wall had one of, if not the worst game since he returned to action. He struggled mightily from the field shooting 3-12 and he offset his six assists with five turnovers. He still showed his ability to attack the defense and get to the rim at will, but his teammates just didn’t knock down shots tonight.

Jrue Holiday: Recently minted "All-Star Holiday" (which sounds more like a winter milkshake at Chik-fil-A), Jrue had a decent game. He dropped 21 points and added six assists, BUT his 21 points came on 22 shot attempts AND he also tallied six turnovers. However, he did hit the big shots at the end of the game to put it away and that’s what All-Star players do.

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The Good

Free throw shooting: This has been a sore spot for the Wiz all year long but tonight they dominated the free throw battle. They shot an astounding 81% from the line, hitting 17 out of 21. Meanwhile, Philly struggled getting to the line and even when they got there, they struggled making them, shooting 6-10. Now usually that is a recipe for a win buttt....
 

The Bad

...turnovers: The Wizards committed 19 of them tonight. Quite frankly, this team isn’t good enough to expect to win when they turn the ball over as much as they do. The really bad part was that the biggest culprit was John Wall with five. Granted a few of those weren’t  his fault but as a young team, we can not afford to just give away offensive possessions.
 

The Ugly

The second quarter. In the second quarter the Wizards dug a hole that they couldn’t climb their way out of. They started the quarter with a three point lead and ended the quarter down nine. That 12 point scoreboard swing was the result of opening the quarter shooting 1-11 and it didn’t get any better the rest of the way. The Wiz ended up going 3-16 from the field. They added 7 turnovers and finished with 11 points in the quarter. That quarter was super ugly.