Washington point guard John Wall dunks home two of his nine points
Playing in his first home game of the season, Wall wanted to show Wizards faithful that he was not only healthy, but ready to take his game to another level this season. It was a hell of a preview of things to come. Wall finished with a crowd pleasing 9 points, 9 assist and 3 steals in 19 minutes as the Wizards blew out the Philadelphia 76ers 100-79 for their first home win of the preseason. Joining Wall was Brad Beal who posted 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assist on a scorching 8 of 14 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
At the start of the game both teams were ice cold, however as the first quarter went on, Beal and Wall got into a rhythm and the Wizards wouldn't look back. Washington held the Sixers to 22 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent from 3-point territory to take a 26-16 first quarter lead. Sixers center Joel Embiid continued his eye opening preseason play. He personally kept the Sixers in the game with a 11 point,12 rebound first half, although the Wizards still led 44-32. The third quarter saw Wizards guard Brad Beal catch fire and all but secure victory for Washington. Beal scored 15 points in the third to help lead the Wizards to a 38 point quarter. Washington cruised the rest of the to victory.
"I thought the defense was where it needed to be," Wizards head coach Scott Brooks said. " It started with our guards. They were into the basketball and they did not allow anything easy. I thought that was the key to the good start." "Our bigs did a great job rebounding," Wall said. "Nicholson, Marcin (Gortat) did a great job rebounding. Guys did a great job getting deflections and getting out in the open court. We started making shots in the second half, but in the first half our defense helped us keep the lead."
Washington improved to 2-2 in the preseason while Philadelphia fell to 1-4. Wizards forward Markieff Morris sat out due to a sore foot while Otto Porter was listed as day to day following a hard fall during the game with Sixers center Joel Embiid resulting in him leaving the game with bruised ribs.
The Wizards will travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the Sacramento Kings Saturday October 15th at 7 p.m.
Brad Beal attempts a tough fade away jumper
Sixers rookie center Joel Embiid sizes up Wizards center Marcin Gortat