Dec 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) shoots the ball against Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) in the second quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Some 50 hours after failing to ice a victory over the Atlanta Hawks with a pair of free throws, Tyrese Maxey stomped on the Washington Wizards in a game that was over after 2.5 quarters.
Really good game for McCain beyond the three-point shooting. He had real burst and showed a strong first step to the basket, creating shots for himself at the rim over bigger defenders. It was some of his best shot creation of the season — not just for himself, but for his teammates. He made a number of good passes off the bounce, allowing Maxey to take some possessions off as the secondary ball-handler shifted to primary duties.
It doesn't feel like there's a lot of deliberate scheming for George in the regular flow of the offense right now. He knocked down a handful of catch-and-shoot threes in this game, and that was just about the extent of his scoring within the team offense. The rest of his touches felt choreographed as a spotlight act while everyone else watched on the other side of the floor. And if you're going to end possessions by calling your own number outside of the flow of the offense, the shots better fall.
I will say, he has to meet his teammates halfway. It sure doesn't seem like the 35-year-old has a significant appetite for cutting or relocating off the ball. But it also doesn't seem like anyone really knows what to do with him beyond weaponize his shooting prowess to space the offense.
Protecting the rim was one of Philadelphia's few struggles in this game. The Sixers couldn't keep the Wizards away from the rim. They couldn't stop them once they got there, either. Deep seals were a problem, the likes of Tristan Vukcevic beating the Sixers' frontcourt down the floor for a post touch against an unset defense.
There was bad pick-and-roll coverage galore. Andre Drummond was out of position on the line between the ball and the big, unable to recover to blow up passes at the cup.
Bona, on the other hand, jumped at everything. That inherently meant he wasn't always available to jump to alter the shot. He'd jump too early to chase a block on a ball-handler, abandoning the rim when dump-off passes were made.
The over-commitment to the ball in pick-and-roll coverages and lack of discipline on up fakes carved out a clear strategy for the Wizards. They got the Sixers' bigs in foul trouble early, stretching the rotation out to include Jabari Walker.
I will say, give Walker his flowers. He checked right in and gave Philadelphia eight points and five rebounds in 12 minutes. Only one foul. He bought the Sixers some good minutes in the frontcourt when it looked like size might be a real problem.
The Sixers should've had no problem keeping the lowly Wizards at arm's length with even an autopilot effort. But there were a number of "show me you care" plays in the first half alone. George, Walker, VJ Edgecombe and Adem Bona all got on the floor for loose balls.
At a micro level, it's just helping you win a basketball game against a bad team. At a macro level, this is part of the "standard" Maxey has harped on. Those guys all demonstrated that no opponent was beneath a good team effort.
Edgecombe, in particular, earned praise. The Sixers were up to their usual nonsense to open the third quarter when Edgecombe decided to generate Washington turnovers and second-chance opportunities for Philadelphia by himself. A block that led to a loose ball foul on Kyshawn George, a handful of offensive rebounds to get the Sixers good looks and a chase-down loose ball in the backcourt to earn Philadelphia an opportunity against an unset defense.
Barlow has been used as an undersized big and a weak-side rim protector out of necessity often early in this season, but there's untapped value in him guarding on the perimeter. The Wizards are hardly a great test of anything, but Barlow had enough balance to stay on his feet against their competent ball-handlers and fought hard to navigate screens.
He demonstrated his utility as a closeout guy on the perimeter in the loss to the Hawks on Sunday. In this game, he used his length to make Washington uncomfortable. At one point in the third, he simply engulfed the ball in transition and forced the handler to lose it, creating a turnover for Philadelphia.
If that isn't a data point for the Sixers when they're trying to decide who should guard the opposition's high-level offensive players, it should be. He's going to get burned, he's going to get into foul trouble. But the wingspan, height and athleticism are too valuable to not give him those tests to see if that adjustment can be a weapon down the line.
Face-of-franchise players eventually get tired of the shenanigans and decide that they are going to put the game away themselves. The foot goes down and it turns into a one-man show.
At some point in the middle of the third quarter, Maxey decided that he was going to bend the game. He did it on the defensive end first. His sense for the ball was excellent, poking the rock away to spark run-outs or intercepting it outright to push the tempo. He had the Wizards back-pedaling to get back on defense for minutes at a time. As the game approached route territory, the rest of the lineup caught on and began to blow up the Wizards' sloppiness too. Maxey was the beneficiary of some easy ones on those possessions.
But he ultimately set the tone for the quarter with his play before the game got fully out of hand. Maxey relentlessly attacked downhill, catching fire with scores at the glass. He then brought the heater out to the perimeter, lacing a fistful of threes to get the locals in attendance excited. 20 of the Sixers' 35 points in the quarter. Then a nice rest spanning the entirety of the fourth quarter.
Philadelphia never looked back.
