Wizards at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers earned their first win with an overtime triumph against Indiana on Friday but dropped the next two contests by a total of 48 points. The 76ers return home on Wednesday with a great chance to earn their second win when they host the struggling Washington Wizards.
Philadelphia sat rookie star Joel Embiid on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday at Atlanta but could not use that excuse on Monday, when Embiid logged 23 minutes and the 76ers had no answer for James Harden in a 115-88 setback at Houston. Embiid was on a 24-minute limit and is expected to sit out again this week with Philadelphia traveling to Minnesota on Thursday for another back-to-back. The Wizards are traveling a similar path of late with two double-digit losses in a row following a rare win and a star sitting out back-to-backs. Point guard John Wall, who underwent surgery on both knees in the offseason, got an early exit from two games due to ejections and got the entire night off to rest his knees in Saturday's 106-95 loss at Chicago.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (2-7): Wall and fellow starting guard Bradley Beal (hamstring) each sat out Saturday but got three straight days off to rest, and Beal at least joined Wall at practice this week. Washington started a pair of rookies in the backcourt against the Bulls in Tomas Satoransky and Sheldon McClendon and got solid efforts from both, but it left the bench thin. Satoransky got the start over Trey Burke, who was brought in to be Wall's backup but is averaging 5.3 points and 1.3 assists in 13.9 minutes.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (1-9): Philadelphia is keeping center/forward Jahlil Okafor on a minutes restriction as well and has yet to dress center Nerlens Noel or forward Ben Simmons, but the problems remain in the backcourt. Starting point guard Sergio Rodriguez and backup T.J. McConnell combined for six points in Monday's loss and neither did much on the defensive end while going up against Harden. Rodriguez scored in double figures in each of the first four games but went for 10 or more one in the last six contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Wizards SF Otto Porter Jr. scored 24 points in the win over the Celtics last Wednesday but totaled 19 points on 8-of-23 shooting in the next two games.
2. 76ers reserve SG Nik Stauskas scored in double figures in each of the last three games.
3. Washington took the last six in the series, including three in Philadelphia.