Sixers run into a Wall

WASHINGTON - While yesterday was a day of celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King and his dream, the 76ers' game against the Washington Wizards was a complete nightmare. There was no equality on the court after about the first 5 minutes as the Wizards (29-13) dominated in every aspect of the game, turning an 8-7 deficit into a 28-point lead in the first half en route to a 111-76 stomping.

Washington was bigger, faster, quicker and stronger than the Sixers, and it didn't take too long for the Wizards to have their way.

"[There were] times when you looked out on the floor and you saw a bunch of men. You saw a physical, big, playoff-hardened team," said coach Brett Brown, whose Sixers reached the midpoint of the season at 8-33. "They are strong at each position, and they're physical at each position. There are times when you are sitting on the bench and realizing just the difference in experience and maturity. It was one of those games where you really stepped back and thought, 'We really have a young team.' "

No one made them look out of place more than John Wall. Though he played less than 29 minutes, Wall controlled the game with his speed and decision-making. He dealt 10 assists and scored 11 points, but it was more the way he controlled every aspect of the game during his time on the court that was the difference. When Wall, the first overall pick in 2010, was out there, the Wizards' confidence rose even higher. You knew that, as long as he was available, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

"John Wall makes that team go," Nerlens Noel said. "He's a point guard who really keeps his players involved and everybody's happy. I think John Wall did a great job of finding his teammates, and they look like they have fun playing."

Noel could have been taking a shot at his own guards a bit with his praise of Wall, as he also said: "I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my energy up the whole game. I think a lot of our big guys did, but we have to be able to reward our big guys and we have to move the ball. I think it was stagnant again, and sustaining energy that long isn't an easy thing especially when you're not getting any big guys the ball."

That could have been due to the tremendous size advantage the Wizards possessed down low, with hulking Marcin Gortat (20 points, nine rebounds) and help from Nene Hilario (12 points) and Kris Humphries (six points, nine rebounds off the bench).

Henry Sims, who started for the injured Luc Mbah a Moute, led the Sixers with 13 points. Jerami Grant had 12 off the bench, while Noel scored 11 and Robert Covington had 10.

"I live in a naive world," Brown said. "I really think we're going to go in and win and steal wins every time we play. The team allows me to think that, because they have spirited practices, real video sessions, fantastic team meetings. They try to prepare and then you come out and sometimes you have one of those games. I give them [Wizards] more credit than sort of looking at how bad we were. I think they forced that in many ways. I feel like the physical side of this game, for whatever reason, stood out to me more than a lot of other games recently."

And Wall stood out, also. "When you combine a world-class A-to-B speed, and we had it with Tony Parker, he brings it to an even greater level," said Brown, harking back to his years as a Spurs assistant. "His ability to go baseline to baseline in almost two dribbles is amazing to me. And now he's starting to feel comfortable putting somebody in his hip pocket and making some tough fadeaways and stuff in the paint. The bigs run for him, because they know that they'll get it. They are rewarded in a bunch of ways with John Wall's evolution. He really is turning into something that is incredibly elite."

Luc Mbah a Moute was scratched just before yesterday's loss with a bruised right knee and Tony Wroten missed his fourth consecutive game with an injury to his right knee. While the team has called Wroten's injury a sprain, coach Brett Brown said it could be more.

"It might be," Brown said, "so we're trying to do all the necessary, obvious testing that we can so that when we do deliver whatever we're going to deliver to the media that it's one and done, and we're solid on the information we're giving. Right now, we wouldn't be."

Wroten tore his right ACL in a football game as a high school junior. He also had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee before his freshman year at Washington and had it drained earlier this season.

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