Sixers fall to Wizards for 7th straight defeat

The 76ers had their chairman of basketball operations in attendance, more balance on offense, and a little more bounce in their step. But they suffered the same old result.

Jerry Colangelo was in town for a meeting with coach Brett Brown and general manager Sam Hinkie. He took in Friday's game before flying back to Phoenix on Saturday.

The Sixers looked sharper than in recent games, but still had critical moments when they couldn't hit a timely basket or make a stop. That's why they lost their seventh straight game and 11th in the last 12. This time it was a 103-94 decision to the Washington Wizards at the Wells Fargo Center.

"It's always frustrating to be in a game like that and working so hard," Nerlens Noel said. "The team overall came out and played tonight. Guys hit shots and guys did a good job. It's tough to have an outcome like this."

Twenty-four games remain in this dreadful season, and the Sixers (8-50) still need two more wins to avoid the worst record in NBA history. The 1972-73 Sixers hold the futility mark at 9-73.

Meanwhile, the Wizards (27-30) have been one of this season's shockers. They were expected to be one of the Eastern Conference contenders. However, they were riddled with injuries for much of the campaign. As a result, they came into Friday's game with the 10th-best record in the conference. The top eight teams make the playoffs.

So Friday's matchup was a must-win game for a Wizards squad that had lost 11 of 18 coming in.

John Wall had a hand in delivering the victory. The all-star point guard scored 19 of his game-high 23 points after intermission.

He also had 11 assists, eight rebounds, four turnovers, one steal, and one block. Center Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

But Wall really put his imprint on the game late in the third quarter.

The Wizards trailed, 72-66, with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left in the quarter. The sixth-year guard sparked a 10-0 run to close out the quarter, giving Washington the lead for good.

The Sixers missed all four of their shots during that run.

Wall is "one of these jaw-dropping guards that you look at and say, 'Wow.' " Sixers coach Brett Brown said of the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder. "That is just incredibly fast. Then you look at his size with the ability to take hits at the rim and still finish. That's a pretty good combination."

Jahlil Okafor paced the Sixers with 21 points on 9- for-13 shooting.

Okafor became the first rookie to score 20 points or more points in at least 22 of his first 52 games since Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving in 2012-13.

Sixers small forward Robert Covington had 12 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, three blocks, and two turnovers.

Ish Smith's dunk closed the gap to 97-92 with 2:34 left.

They had a chance to pull within two points. But Nik Stauskas missed a wide-open corner three-pointer on their next possession.

Then Smith missed a wide-open three at the 1:42-mark.

Markieff Morris went on to hit a pair of foul shots five seconds later to put the Wizards up by seven.

kpompey@phillynews.com

@PompeyOnSixers