Nerlens Noel had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers.
By Mary Cunningham
The Sixers knocked off the star-depleted Washington Wizards back in January at the Wells.
Last night at the Verizon Center in Washington was sweet payback for the Wiz.
Wizards center Marcin Gortat scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, Bradley Beal added 20 points, and Washington defeated the 76ers 106-93.
Gortat converted 10 of 11 shots, primarily from inside.
”They were passing me the ball,” Gortat said. ”I was doing the same thing I’m doing every single game.”
John Wall chipped in 13 points and 15 assists for Washington, which had lost five of six.
Otto Porter started in place of Paul Pierce (rest) for and finished with 15 points.
The Wizards (42-33), who clinched a playoff spot Monday, began play three games behind the Raptors for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Ish Smith tied his season high with 23 points and Isaiah Canaan added 18 for the 76ers (18-58), who have lost four straight overall and 18 of 19 on the road.
Canaan was seen leaving the locker room after the game on crutches and not putting weight on his right foot. Coach Brett Brown had no immediate update on the nature or severity of the injury.
Washington dominated in its first of back-to-back games against the 76ers and Knicks – the bottom two teams in the conference – jumping out to a 13-4 lead and building from there.
Brown said he knew Washington, which lost to the 76ers the last time the teams met, was trying to get rejuvenated before the playoffs.
”And we got jumped,” he said. ”I think it’s a fantastic experience for our guys. We knew this was going to be the landscape. But it’s still hard to navigate.”
Nerlens Noel had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers.
Smith scored eight early points and his scoop shot pulled the 76ers to within five at 15-10 midway through the quarter. Washington scored six straight, however and led 31-21 after one as Gortat scored 13 points in the quarter, six off Wall assists.
Beal capped a 10-0 Wizards run to open the second quarter when he blocked Luc Mbah a Moute’s shot, came down with the ball and drove the length of the floor for a dunk.
”When we’re playing against playoff teams, they’re coming out swinging, and we have to come out swinging,” Smith said of the early deficit.
Washington shot 69 percent (29 of 42) in the half and collected 24 assists.
The Wizards cooled off in the second half, but still increased their lead to 34 points, 93-59, on Kevin Seraphin’s step-back jumper late in the third.
Hollis Thompson (16 points) hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the last pulling Philadelphia to within 100-85 with 5:43 left, but Wittman sent several starters back into the game and the 76ers got no closer until the final minute.
