PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid was missed.
The Washington Wizards took advantage of the height difference created by the 76ers’ 7-foot-2, 280-pounder’s absence.
Dominating the paint, the Wizards prevailed, 121-111, Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Embiid missed his second consecutive game with the flu. The Sixers (4-5) were also without De’Anthony Melton (lower-back stiffness).
Washington (4-4) outscored the Sixers 68-38 in the paint. They also blocked nine shots and altered several others.
The loss dropped the Sixers to 4-5 and snapped their three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Wizards avenged Monday’s loss to the Sixers in D.C. and snapped a three-game skid.
Tyrese Maxey paced the Sixers with 32 points on 11-for-20 shooting, including making 5 of 9 3-pointers. James Harden added 24 points and 10 assists while appearing to experience left knee pain after a fall early in the game.
Kristaps Porzingis led the Wizards with 30 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks. Bradley Beal added 29 points and five assists.
No Embiid
Embiid has not been around the Sixers since contracting the illness.
Meanwhile, the Wizards were without Delon Wright (left hamstring strain) and Corey Kispert (left ankle sprain).
While Embiid sat out Friday’s victory against the Toronto Raptors as he rested his right knee, the All-Star center returned Saturday and scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Sixers in a victory over the Chicago Bulls.
But he’s been listed on the injury report since Sunday, because of the flu.
“Doctors tell you not to be around the team,” coach Doc Rivers said of modern players having the flu. “I don’t know how we survived in our day, because we played with the flu and everything.
“But not just the playing part, which was stupid when you think about it. But how did everyone else not get sick? I don’t know. But I do think it’s the right thing that we are doing now all over the league.”
The only thing is, Embiid has now missed three of the Sixers’ past four games.
His absence hurts from the standpoint of being unable to work on improving the pace and ball movement with him on the floor. The Sixers are often better in those areas when Embiid doesn’t play. However, he’s still their best player and they’ll need him to make a deep postseason run. So the Sixers need to find a way to sustain their tempo and ball movement with him.
New lineup
Melton is usually the fifth starter as the Sixers go to a small-ball lineup when Embiid is out. However, Melton was a late scratch with lower-back stiffness. So Thybulle got the start alongside Tobias Harris, P.J. Tucker, Tyrese Maxey and James Harden.
Thybulle got things going early with a steal that led to a Maxey transition basket. Then moments later, Thybulle scored on a layup while being fouled.
However, his second shot attempt, a dunk attempt, was blocked by Porzingis.
Thybulle looked a little out of sync at times while playing with starters. There were times when he appeared to be unsure about if he should set a screen for Harden or stand in the corner behind the 3-point line. He was subbed out with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Thybulle, who wasn’t feeling good before the game, checked back in in the second quarter and was more settled down. He appeared to tweak his ankle in the third quarter and went to the locker room to get examined. He returned to the bench, but didn’t re-enter the game.
Thybulle finished with two points, one steal and two assists.
Living in the paint
The Wizards took advantage of the Sixers’ lack of height without Embiid.
Driving to the lane and posting up, Washington scored 35 of their 57 first-half points came in the paint.
The Sixers were in a huge disadvantage as the 6-foot-6 Thybulle, 6-5 reserve guard Shake Milton and other guards had to guard 7-3 Porzingis on occasion.
Up next
The Sixers entertain the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. Friday. The Atlantic Division rivals split last season’s four meetings. However, the series won the last two series meetings.
