Could the winning streak have been coincidental? Washington hosted Philadelphia tonight (Friday through Saturday), once again played very bad basketball on both sides of the court, and suffered its second straight loss, 127: 101. Danny Abdia came up from the bench once again and finished with 4 points (2 of 6 from the field, 0 of 3 from three), 5 rebounds, an assist and five fouls in 28 minutes.
With all due respect to both teams, from this game one thing will be remembered: the injury of Joel Ambide. During the third quarter the star of the Sixers and the candidate for the MVP was injured in his knee in a worrying way, precisely after a resounding dunk. The chin went down to the locker room and at this point the severity of his injury is unknown.
– Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 13, 2021
Even in the absence of Ben Simmons who is still in solitary confinement, it was not forces. Washington scored just 15 points in the first quarter, absorbing 32, and chasing Philadelphia without success all the way. The Wizards did show signs of life in the second quarter, which they won 31:38, but from the start of the second half they completely disintegrated. At the peak, the difference was 32 points in favor of the guest.
Abdia, who scored in double digits in two of his last three games so far tonight, has failed to continue his personal mini-momentum. The Israeli scored one basket in a burst after an assist by Russell Westbrook and in the second half added an uncharacteristic basket on the verge of the arc of three. The rookie will hope to recover between Saturday and Sunday, when he meets MVP Yannis Antecompo for the first time in his career.
Even before he was injured, Ambide swept the Sixers with 23 points on 73 percent from the field, receiving assistance from two substitutes Shake Milton and Purken Kurkmaz who scored 18 points each and made sure Doc Rivers came out of the U.S. capital with a fourth straight win. At the Wizards Westbrook finished with 25 points and 8 assists, and Bradley Bill who was in doubt for a tackle scored only 19. Except for the two stars only Robin Lopez (10) scored in double digits. Davis Bartans went down to the locker room in the first half due to injury and did not return.
