There's No Place Like Home Against Washington: Sixers-Wizards on a Friday Night

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Well, after the Sixers' first loss in seven games—and arguably their
toughest of the young season—we couldn't ask for a much better
bounce-back game than this. The 1-9 Wizards, easily the worst team in
the league to start the season, are visiting tonight in the first game
of a home-and-home with Philly, very possibly the two easiest games the
Sixers will play all season. The Wiz caught a little momentum with their
first win of the season earlier this week against the Raptors, but lost
that quickly with a 14-point loss to a Bulls team without MVP Derrick
Rose, in which the team managed only 62 points in four quarters.

Of course, no game in the league is truly a gimme, and the Wizards did
give the Sixers some trouble early last year, most notably in that
heartbreaking game early in the season where a couple Evan Turner missed
free throws late allowed the Wiz to tie the game up and get the win in
overtime. But that was a different Sixers team, and all indications this
season would lead you to believe to the Sixers being the vastly
superior team—not to mention the two pre-season games the teams played,
both Sixers wins.

The Wiz might have an advantage up front, however, since as with the
Jazz and Knicks, they boast size that will difficult for us to match up
with. JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche might not be the brightest bulbs
in the box, but they make for a fairly imposing frontcourt, and starting
center Spencer Hawes is questionable for a second straight game with
his bad back. The Ballers will likely need a big contribution from
rookie big Nikola Vucevic, and a solid defensive effort from Jrue
Holiday (and possibly 2010 draft partner Evan Turner) on Wizards point
guard John Wall—off to a slow start in '11-'12, but always a threat with
his blinding speed and impressive court vision.

7:00 tip from the WFC. “We’re not going to blame the schedule or
anything like that,” Elton Brand said of the team's 85-79 loss in New
York on Wednesday. “Every
team has a tough schedule this season and you have to give (the Knicks)
credit.
They outplayed us when it counted.” Easy to say about Carmelo and
Amar'e—harder to say about the Wizards. Let's hope we won't have to.

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