Takeaways From Philadelphia 76ers First Preseason Game
By Josh Wilson
The first preseason game has come and gone for the Philadelphia 76ers. Days after most of the rest of the league kicked off their schedule, the Sixers went down to Washington, D.C., to face off against John Wall, Bradley Beal, and the Wizards.
Live Feed
Sir Charles In Charge
The Wizards would ultimately come away with a huge win, 129-95.
While some saw this as a huge edge for the Wizards, let’s remember that the Wizards and Sixers are both teams that are looking to find a new identity in the Eastern Conference this year. Although the Wizards only had one major loss (Kevin Seraphin‘s departure was expected) in Paul Pierce leaving to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, his hometown team, it was a big loss for them. Last year, he led them deep in the playoffs and he was often the player taking the last shot of the game. His veteran presence pulled together the young roster and it really helped them figure things out down the stretch.
Without Pierce, the Wizards are looking for their new identity.
The Sixers identity issues are obvious, as they are going through a lengthy, in depth rebuilding process. Jahlil Okafor coming in as a rookie is expected to be the foundation of this new team.
In this way, I expected a good game. Two teams matching up looking to find their identity early on (before the season starts would be best, for both teams) facing off. I also expected a good matchup since John Wall, Bradley Beal, and other key starters weren’t going to play a whole lot for Washington (my expectations were mostly correct, the two only played a combined 41 minutes).
Although it’s just the first preseason game, there is a lot we can take away for the Sixers as they enter a huge year of their rebuilding.
Losing is still the theme
It’s just the preseason, but a loss still stings, especially when it comes as a 34 point deficit. They were absolutely dominated, and a lot of that came from the 23 turnovers throughout the game. Allowing the Wizards to shoot 50% from the field didn’t help their case either.
Containing Otto Porter Jr. was the hardest part of the night, as the young forward scored 22 points with five rebounds. Porter didn’t miss a single three pointer, and went 8-10 from the field overall. Bradley Beal, despite only playing 21 minutes, had 19 points on top of that, and John Wall added 10 of his own.
Perhaps facing off against this team to start the preseason wasn’t a good way to determine how well the Sixers will do, but it’s still troubling to see them lose by this much. The Wizards are rebuilding, but they definitely have more of the pieces in place when compared to the Sixers.
I wasn’t surprised to see them lose, but it was painful to see it be by this much.
Okafor is pretty good at scoring, average at everything else
Going 6-10 from the field, Okafor had a hot start, going 4-4 by the end of the first quarter, being the only player after the first quarter to not miss a shot after attempting at least two. He finished with 12 points in 17 minues, a pace that would have him scoring 21 points on the game if he had played 30 minutes.
He only brought in two rebounds, and they were both defensive. He had one steal and two blocks (which is actually pretty good for a “lazy” defender), but other than that, his performance was fairly average. It’s definitely not fair to say he’s an “average player” based off of one performance (and a 17 minute preseason performance at that), but I’m hoping to see a little more in the next game from him.
Isaiah Canaan is taking advantage of injured guards
With Pierre Jackson, Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten all out of this one, the game was wide open for Isaiah Canaan to make a statement for himself as a starting point guard for the team. Scottie Wilbekin also had this opportunity, but clearly didn’t take advantage as well as Canaan.
Canaan and Wilbekin both played 24 minutes (the second most on the team). Canaan had 13 points, and Wilbekin was only able to produce five. Canaan had five assists, Wilbekin had just two.
The biggest red flag when it comes to Wilbekin was his +/- rating. He finished with a -30, while Canaan had just a -2, which isn’t bad considering the team lost by over 30 points.
Canaan’s performance could be seen as fairly minuscule, given that he had the most minutes on the floor, but at this point it’s pretty obvious he’s one of the front runners for the point guard starting spot, especially with recent comments from Bret Brown where he threw Jackson in the mix with Marshall and Wroten for the guards that would be out the longest.
There is (obviously) some work to be done, but that’s what preseason is for
Even for this squad that isn’t expected to win much more than 20 games, there were some clear issues out there on Tuesday night. Turnovers were among the most, but not keeping up with the insanely high pace that the Wizards were able to set was another.
There’s obvious issues, but luckily that’s exactly what preseason is for. If the problems are even slightly better by the time October 28th rolls around, the preseason will have been effective.
It’s better that the Sixers were blown out on the opening preseason night, instead of the open to the regular season.
Next: Sixers Fall To Wizards In First Preseason Game
More from The Sixer Sense
- 3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball
- 76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster
- 76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this season
- Grade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock deal
- Sixers Podcast: Danny Green returns + James Harden bombshell