Three reasons the Sixers beat the Washington Wizards

The 76ers’ fourth straight win, Friday’s 127-101 victory at Washington was tempered by the left knee injury that Joel Embiid suffered in the third quarter. Coach Doc Rivers said more should be known Saturday about the status of the four-time all-star.

Here are three reasons why the Sixers won the game to break a 10-game losing streak in Washington.

During this win streak, the much maligned bench has been playing among its best basketball together. That continued against the Wizards. The Sixers outscored the Wizards’ reserves, 56-38. Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz each scored 18 points, while Dwight Howard added six points and 10 rebounds.

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Milton, especially set the tone. After shooting 5 for 15 in Thursday’s win at Chicago, he was 8 for 13 against the Wizards. The best part of his game is that he can create his own shot. Of his eight field goals, four were jumpers off the middle from 14 to 16 feet.

Here is one of those shots, as Milton is able to get the separation on former Sixer Raul Neto and then hit the pull-up jumper.

Seven of Milton’s eight field goals were jumpers and if he keeps hitting them, it will open up more room for drives to the basket.

For somebody who was sidelined for a week due to health and safety protocols, Embiid before his injury, simply couldn’t be stopped. In just 20 minutes, 23 seconds, he produced 23 points and seven rebounds.

This play is an example of his quickness, agility and power as he overwhelmed defender Moritz Wagner.

Washington is a poor defensive team to begin win. The Wizards are 27th in defensive rating, allowing 113.9 points per 100 possessions. Embiid was getting any shot he wanted, but so were many of his teammates.

The last time Bradley Beal played against the Sixers he dropped 60 points. This time he had 19 in just under 29 minutes. Granted, he had a sore knee and was a game-time decision, but the Sixers still did a good job on limiting his chances.

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Beal shot 8 for 13, but with Matisse Thybulle and Danny Green, doing much of the defending, he had trouble getting open looks. If Beal would get by one Sixer, there was help defense. Sure, the injury played a part in slowing Beal down, but the Sixers also had a game plan that he wasn’t going to have the type of success he enjoyed the last time out.