Washington Wizards vs Philadelphia 76ers Prediction: Home team to win

Last season the Wizards beat the Sixers in 2 out of 3 head-to-head encounters, but in the upcoming game Washington is considered an outsider even on their home court. Will the capital club be able to beat Philadelphia again?

The Wizards won three of their four opening regular-season games, but then two straight losses followed, causing the team to now share fifth place in the Eastern Conference with three other clubs. Washington is one of the best defenses in the league right now: The Capitals are 8th in the NBA defensive ranking. On the offensive end, Bradley Beal has lost his former stability, but for now he leads the team in scoring average with 20.8 points. Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma are playing somewhere around the star level, and Rui Hachimura and Will Barton are Washington's most useful role players at the moment. Delon Wright, who leads the league in average interceptions, is still in the infirmary, and Corey Kispert also remains out.

Wes Unseld Jr. was unable to get anything going against Boston in their last regular season game, 94-112. Playing away against the Celtics is indeed difficult, especially when they're locked in a fight after two straight losses. Washington just couldn't get past the Celtics' defense, and even the fact that the Wizards rarely lost the ball saved them. Beal and Kuzma combined for just 7 of 29 shots on the shot clock, while Monte Morris and Will Barton also struggled. Porzingis was held back, but he made up for his missed shots from beyond the arc with mid-range and under the basket. The Latvian big man scored 17 points.

The Sixers have won 3 of their last 4 regular-season games, though before that they lost consecutively to Boston, Milwaukee and San Antonio. The resignation of Doc Rivers, which some insiders have already begun to talk about, has been postponed, although there are questions about the game for Philadelphia. First and foremost, there are flaws on defense, and P.J. Tucker has fallen short of expectations at times. The offense, on the other hand, is fine. The 76ers rank fifth in three-point attempts, with Tucker in the NBA's top-15 for that metric. Tyrese Maxey assumes the role of the first star in some games, although Joel Embiid and James Harden are in good shape. Maxey is averaging 22.6 points and shooting over 50 percent from the field. Embiid could miss the game against Washington due to illness and his participation is questionable.

The day before, Doc Rivers' team defeated Chicago on the road, 114-109. On defense Philadelphia played far from perfect allowing the opponent to take easy shots. On offense, Harden and Maxey failed, making only 7 of 27 shots, and Embiid was undeniably the best player for the Sixers with 25 points. The role players played an important role that night. Georges Niang, De'Anthony Melton and P.J. Tucker all shot well from beyond the arc, and Montrezl Harrell had 3 offensive rebounds, the most on the team.

Philadelphia is trying to adjust defensively and even brought Matisse Thybulle back into the rotation, but the Australian isn't ready to play more than 20 minutes, and there are still plenty of problems the rest of the time. Joel Embiid is not as diligent under the basket in the regular season, so opponents have more opportunities. Washington has lost two games in a row and will be looking to make up for that at home. The hosts have bright attacking players, and the important link of the defense (Wright) is missing due to injury. The recent head-to-head stats also speak in favor of the Wizards, so our prediction for the upcoming match looks like this:

• TO (217.5) for 2.00;
• H1 (+4.5) for 1.892;
• W1 (incl. OT) for 2.37.

Telecom Asia Sport is looking for tipsters from India. Contact jobs@telecomasia.net for more information.