National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: Wizards Obliterate 76ers In Second Meeting of Preseason

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Washington Wizards Three Takeaways: After going to double-overtime in their first meeting, the Washington Wizards obliterated the 76ers on Thursday night.

Last week, the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers tortured their fans by going to double-overtime.

On Thursday night, the Wizards made sure that the rematch would be over in regulation by gaining an early double-digit lead against the Sixers.

Joel Embiid‘s emergence – he scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 14 minutes on Thursday – has been impressive, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Wizards’ flurry in the second half.

Washington beat the Sixers, 100-79.

Wall is back, for real

John Wall made his return to the Washington Wizards’ lineup last week against the New York Knicks and looked just as quick and explosive as he did before getting double-knee surgery in the off-season.

Still, there are a couple of things that needed to be checked off the box before we could say, “okay, he’s seriously back.”

Wall needed to get a signature block and a dunk in the half-court. Check. Check.

The All-Star guard pinned Dario Saric, grabbed the ball and raced up the court to finish a layup. Minutes later, Wall dunked all over Jerami Grant.

Wall finished the game with 9 points and 9 assists in 19 minutes.

As the preseason continues, Scott Brooks will likely continue to ramp up Wall’s minutes so he gets into game-shape before the regular season begins.

Nicholson can hoop a bit

Before training camp began, I predicted that Andrew Nicholson would become a valuable contributor for the Washington Wizards off the bench.

Now, I’m not patting myself on the back, but I’m totally patting myself on the back.

It’s still too early to say whether or not I was right, but Nicholson has all the tools to give the Wizards a serious spark.

More from Wiz of Awes

After playing behind Jason Smith in the first two preseason games, Nicholson finally got a chance to show what he’s capable of doing tonight.

He played 30 minutes, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

More importantly, Nicholson made three of the five shots he attempted from deep.

Not only can he score inside, but he’s comfortable with shooting from the perimeter.

That’s a huge plus nowadays.

Teams aren’t going to close out on Nicholson as hard as they would, say, Bradley Beal.

Those shots are going to be there for him.

It’s just a matter of knocking them down. Tonight, he knocked them down.

Beal is in regular season mode

Washington agreed to a $130 million extension with Bradley Beal this summer and fully expect him to play like someone who’s getting paid that much money. It’s preseason, so we should temper our expectations, but he’s been the real deal so far.

Beal scored 22 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists in 24 minutes. He made five of his six 3-point tries.

You can’t ask for much more. He’s creating for himself, taking good shots and finding his teammates. He’s played at an All-Star level.

As long as Beal continues to play with this same level of composure and can stay healthy, he should give himself a solid shot at having a career-best season.

Washington will continue preseason on Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings at Rupp Arena.

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