76ers at Wizards
Michael Carter-Williams enjoyed a historic debut and the Philadelphia 76ers delivered a shocking victory over the Miami Heat in their season opener. Philadelphia attempts to make it two consecutive wins when it visits the Washington Wizards on Friday, and Carter-Williams will be hard-pressed to match his first outing. The first-round draft choice from Syracuse had 22 points, 12 assists, nine steals and seven rebounds, with the thefts being the most ever in a player’s NBA debut.
The 76ers – predicted to be among the NBA’s worst teams – stunningly scored the first 19 points against Miami in a contest in which Carter-Williams nearly joined Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson as the only player with a triple-double in his first NBA game. “Everything was clicking,” Carter-Williams said afterward. “If we can consistently play together, then we can be a good team.” Washington lost to Detroit in its opener and was manhandled inside, being outscored 56-28 in the paint. Wizards first-round pick Otto Porter remains sidelined with a hip flexor strain.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, CSN Washington
ABOUT THE 76ERS (1-0): While Carter-Williams’ performance deservedly was the talk of the upset over Miami, Philadelphia also received stellar efforts from forward Evan Turner and center Spencer Hawes. Turner had 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting and Hawes tallied 24 on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. There is a lot of pressure on Turner to perform this season after averaging 13.3 points last season and failing to thus far live up to his billing as the No. 2 overall pick of the 2010 draft. Hawes’ output matched his best since joining the team in 2010.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (0-1): Recently acquired center Marcin Gortat could be in the starting lineup after Nene suffered a calf injury in the opener and missed Thursday’s practice. Gortat had nine points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes against Detroit after having just three practices under his belt since being dealt to Washington by Phoenix. Wizards coach Randy Wittman was highly disappointed with the club’s defensive showing. “We almost went out and looked like – from a defensive standpoint – looked like we just went out and played a pickup game,” Wittman said.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Philadelphia won two of last season’s three meetings and is 7-2 over the last nine matchups.
2. Washington F Trevor Ariza had 28 points and 10 rebounds against the Pistons, and his six 3-pointers were the most by a Wizards player in a season opener.
3. Williams’ 12 assists were the second-most in a debut game behind Ernie DiGregorio’s 14 for the Buffalo Braves in 1973.