Washington @ Philadelphia Game Overview

Philadelphia returned home after a successful, six-game road swing in which the Sixers won four, starting with the first three at Boston, Utah and Portland. Those three wins combined with a home defeat of San Antonio and back-to-back victories against Charlotte had Philadelphia closing out December on a high note.

Since the calendar turned to 2025, however, the Sixers have dropped three of four games, including a 109-99 decision vs. Phoenix in Monday's homecoming. Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points and dished 10 assists for his fourth 30-point double-double, all of which he has recorded since Nov. 27.

Philadelphia is 11-7 over that span and trying to climb into contention for an Eastern Conference playoff berth despite dealing with absences.

Joel Embiid (foot) missed Monday's matchup with Phoenix, his 21st missed game of the season. The 2022-23 NBA Most Valuable Player has played more than three consecutive games on just one occasion, the four straight games he played from Dec. 23-30 coinciding with the Sixers' longest winning streak of the season.

On Monday, Philadelphia also was without veterans Andre Drummond (toe), who has missed five of the last seven games, and Kyle Lowry (hip), who has missed nine games since Nov. 20.

Meanwhile, six-time All-NBA forward Paul George has played in all 14 games since missing 10 of the season's first 20, but is scoring just 16.2 points per game.

"It's difficult, man. He came into the season feeling pretty good as far as training camp; kind of found a flow. Then you get hurt. That's difficult," Maxey said of George's offensive struggles. "He's never played with the Sixers, so he's trying to find his way. ... I understand where that's coming from."

Washington comes into Philadelphia with its own injury troubles. In Tuesday's 135-112 blowout loss to Houston, the Wizards were without leading scorer Jordan Poole (hip) for the fourth time in six games and Malcolm Brogdon (foot).

Washington also has been without Marvin Bagley III for the ninth time in 10 games with a knee injury that coach Brian Keefe told reporters had no timetable for a return.

The Wizards' loss in the first half of the midweek back-to-back extended the season-long woes looming over a team with the NBA's worst record. Washington is on a three-game losing streak and has dropped five of its last six.

Adding to the difficulty of its current stretch, Washington's first two losses in the current skid came against New Orleans, the Western Conference's cellar dweller. Sunday's 110-98 setback at home came with some positive for the Wizards, however, with Kyle Kuzma scoring a season-high 28 points.

Kuzma, who averaged 21.2 and 22.2 points per game the previous two seasons, is scoring just 15.4 per contest in 2024-25. Worse yet for the struggling Washington offense is that Kuzma's production is second on the team behind Poole's 21.8 points per game.

The Wizards did receive significant production on Tuesday from Corey Kispert, however. The career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter came into the matchup with Houston shooting only 33.3 percent this season, but came off the bench to knock down 5-of-7 from deep and finished with 23 points.

"If you're just ... shooting it, letting it roll, there's enough practice and enough reps in the back end to help you trust that," Kispert told the Washington Post of regaining his long-range shooting touch.

--Field Level Media