Wright led the Sixers with 15 points while Jrue Holiday, Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young all notched 14. Arnett Moultrie was terrific in six minutes, converting all 3 of his field goal attempts. He also set some nice screens, rolled hard to the basket and was solid defensively. However, Collins’ refusal to give him real minutes continues to hurt this team, not just today but for the future as well.

All five Wizards starters reached double figures, led by 16 points from Martell Webster and John Wall. Emeka Okafor continued his dominance of Spencer Hawes and the Sixers this season with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Rookie star Brad (not Jeremy) Beal scored 14 points but left the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent sprained ankle.

The Wizards led 50-49 at halftime after an uneventful first 24 minutes in which Dorell Wright was the story for the Sixers, dropping 13 points off the bench on 3-4 from behind the arc. Moultrie failed to see the floor while the trio of Hawes, Young and Lavoy Allen played mediocre at best. Allen in particular looked horrific, like he didn’t want to be out on the floor.

The third quarter, which has been a problem for the Sixers all season, proved so once again as Washington outscored Philly, 22-19, in the period. Had it not been for a late surge, which not-so-coincidentally began once Moultrie finally checked into the game at the 2:21 mark, Philly would have been down double figures heading into the 4th quarter. Arnett had 4 points on two shots at the end of the third and injected some life into the squad defensively.

Trailing 82-78 with five minutes remaining in the game, Holiday finally got going with a jumper to bring the Sixers to within two. He then stole the ball on the other end and after an ill-advised Hawes jumper, corralled the offensive rebound and hit a triple to give the Sixers their first lead of the half. It was also the team’s first three since the second quarter.

But the lead quickly disappeared when John Wall scored six straight points, including a deep two with four seconds remaining to give Washington a three point edge. Philly had forced a contested triple from Webster with 28 seconds to go, but Hawes was unable to keep Nene off of the offensive glass and the Brazilian gave the Wizards one last possession.

Not much else needs to be said. The fact that Moultrie logged just 6 minutes is inexcusable and that in itself should be enough to push Collins out the door. This team looks like a bunch of guys who decided to play intramural ball in college. They don’t run set plays, they don’t take good shots and they don’t do any of the little things that 29 other NBA teams do (Okay fine, 28 other teams, I forgot the Bobcats existed for a second). The Sixers stink and its as simple as that. If you are one of those fans holding off hope that maybe this team gets it together for a late playoff push, you’re delusional.

Finally, I wanted to point out two negative plays stood out to me while I watched tonight’s crap fest and in some way are a metaphor for the entire Sixers’ season to this point. The first occurred at the end of the first half. The Sixers had the ball with 27 seconds left on the game clock and a fresh shot clock. Holiday took the clock down and attempted a layup, which was off the mark, with about five seconds to play in the half. Nene then grabbed the rebound and launched a pass downcourt to a wide open AJ Price, who finished a layup at the other end (actually Wright chased him down but was whistled for a goaltending), a transition basket that Philly had no right surrendering. The second play happened at the end of the third quarter when Lavoy could have grabbed a defensive rebound with about 10 seconds left but failed to do so, giving Washington another possession. He then lost track of Jan Vesely, who converted an alley-oop dunk to give the Wizards momentum heading into the fourth.

The Sixers have now dropped 10 consecutive road games. They return to the Wells Fargo Center this Tuesday, March 5th, to take on the Boston Celtics. I’m looking to sell give away my tickets if anyone is interested.

Thad Young finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers took care of the Sacramento Kings at the Wells Fargo Center, 89-80, to win their second game in a row for the first time since early November.

Young had his way with Jason Thompson and the Kings’ forwards all night, getting it done on 11-17 shooting. Nick Young added 20 points, giving him double digits in six of his last seven games. Jrue Holiday scored 21 points and dished out 7 assists but coughed the ball up 8 times, reverting back to the poor decision making that plagued him earlier this season. Evan Turner’s struggles continued as he ended up with just 8 points and 4 turnovers in 33 minutes.

Tyreke Evans was unstoppable for the Kings, pouring in a game-high 29 points while Isaiah Thomas chipped in 24 points and DeMarcus Cousins double-doubled with 12 points and 12 boards.

Philly came out scorching hot from the field thanks to better-than-usual ball movement and shotty Sacramento defense in the first half. Holiday and Young each had 13 points at the break on a combined 12-16 shooting. The Sixers led by as many as 19 points and went into the locker rooms ahead 54-39 after shooting 57.5% as a team.

As strong as the Sixers looked in the first half they looked equally disappointing in the third quarter. The massive lead quickly disappeared thanks to sloppy play from Holiday and pathetic transition defense. The Kings won the third quarter by 11 points and sucked the life out of the Wells Fargo Center. The quarter can be summed up by one play that occurred with just seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter. Thomas was dribbling out the clock near midcourt when Holiday approached him, ready to use the Sixers’ foul that they had to give. Thomas instinctively went into his shooting motion before Holiday made contact. Jrue didn’t realize and fouled Thomas, giving the 5’9 point guard three shots and the Kings even more momentum heading into the 4th.

Thankfully, they’re the Kings, and no matter how hard Philly tried to give them the game, they just wouldn’t take it. Sacramento took its first lead of the game at 73-72 with 10:35 left in the 4th but went cold after that and allowed the Sixers to go on a 17-2 run midway through the quarter, ending any chance of the comeback. Young, Lavoy Allen and Holiday combined for all 17 points on the run.

I guess a win is a win, but I can’t help but remain frustrated with this team. Holiday played terrible (for him*, the standards were raised when he was selected as an all-star), Turner looks like hes a rookie again and I’m sorry but if you have to rely on 20 points a night from Swaggy P, you aren’t winning all that much.

On the bright side, the Sixers outrebounded Sacramento 47-35 and looked really good defensively when they needed to. The Orlando Magic come to town next Monday as the Sixers look to win their third straight game, a feat they’ve accomplished just twice this season.