Wizards' three-pointers sink Sixers

WHEN IT COMES to defense, the 76ers and coach Brett Brown have chosen a way they are willing to get beat. They are determined to protect the paint with everyone first, then get out on jump shooters second.

They have perfected it - perfected it in that they are certainly getting beat that way. Badly. Last night the Washington Wizards, not one of the more prolific shooting teams in the NBA (or any other league, for that matter), drained a franchise-record 18 three-pointers in 33 attempts and rode that to a 116-102 victory, the first of their four-game season. The loss dropped the Sixers to 3-2 after a 3-0 start.

With the mercurial John Wall at the point, paint protection first is really the right way to go against Washington. But the Wizards guard rarely burst in the lane for scoring opportunities, instead settling on enticing wide-open, three-point jump shots. He made all but three of his eight attempts from there in leading the Wizards with 24 points; he also dealt nine assists. Just as an example of how baffled the Sixers' defense was, Washington had 32 assists on 43 field goals. For the season, opponents have drained 61 three-pointers on the Sixers.

"We just have to trust [the defensive philosophy]," said Evan Turner, who led the Sixers with 24 points. "When guys are hitting threes, they're hitting threes. Last game [against Golden State] you take your hat off to them. 'Iggy' [Andre Iguodala] hit seven threes . . . John [Wall] hit a few threes that we really didn't plan on. It's coach's philosophy and you just have to trust it and take it from there."

Iguodala and Wall never will be in the argument for the best shooters in the league, so the philosophy of letting them launch is understandable. The drawback is many NBA perimeter players will be able to make wide-open shots from outside the line, and most of the shots against the Sixers the past two games have been just that variety.

Add to that Marcin Gortat and Nene doing their best Richard Incognito impression, bullying the Sixers all over the floor. Nene, who missed the prior meeting between the two teams, had 10 points and five rebounds and created space with his presence in the lane. Gortat muscled his way to 19 points and 12 rebounds. Those two were the perfect complement to Washington's outside shooting barrage.

And defensively, they swallowed up Thaddeus Young, who had scored 29 points on Friday in the teams' first meeting. Last night he was held to seven points on 3-for-11 shooting.

"I think that Thad had an off night and at times we have to do a better job, I have to do a better job, of finding him,'' Brown said. "I was happy with our ball movement more tonight, 26 assists out of 39 made baskets is a good sign. I thought last game the ball stuck and we dribbled too much. Tonight we made some adjustments on just trying to find teammates, and I was happy with that."

What Brown couldn't have been happy with was the 21 times his team turned the ball over. Those turnovers often led to breaks for the Wizards. More times than not, because of the odd-number breakout, that led to wide-open three-pointers.

"When you go back and look at the tape, you're going to see some correlation to halfcourt defensive schemes, but I think you're going to see a lot of correlation to turnovers," Brown said. "It's easy to say, 'Oh, the three-point shot, what are you doing in halfcourt defense?' There is some of that but I think you're going to see a lot of it on scramble, rat ball. That type of thing after a turnover as opposed to we're [not] rotating here or not rotating there. You're in a footrace. You're always at an odd number. Transition defense is at its hardest after a turnover. It's easier, it's still hard when you've got John Wall, but it's easier after a miss than it is after you just throw it away. I think you're just always behind the eight ball with odd-number breaks. We are trying to get to the paint as a general rule and tonight they made threes."

Spencer Hawes had his third double-double of the season with 23 points and 13 rebounds. He also contributed five assists but turned the ball over six times as well. Michael Carter-Williams had 19 points, seven assists and five rebounds and James Anderson added 13 points . . . The Sixers have given up 100 or more points in each of their five games . . . Evan Turner scored 20 or more points for the fourth time . . . The team will practice early today in order to attend the afternoon funeral of longtime and beloved employee Jeff Millman, who died on Tuesday after a short battle with cancer. The team is wearing black bands on their uniform for the rest of the month in honor of Millman.

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