A Farewell To Buckets: Washington Wizards 81, Philadelphia 76ers 89

There are some inevitable truths in life: death, taxes, the Flyers inspiring an entire fanbase to root for the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup, laughter at the expense of Billy King. And tonight, we got to add one to this list: lack of baskets in a Wizards-Sixers game played on February 27, 2015.

Considering the game played, the fact that the game ended 89-81 can be classified as nothing short of remarkable. The Wizards shot 32% from the field. The Sixers shot 35%. No one felt good about any of this.

But trudge on we must, and we must do so with the knowledge that though the Wizards losing helps in conveying the Thunder pick, a Sixers win is not what fans rooting with draft pick interests needed especially after beginning the day with sole possession of the second worst record in the NBA. Now the Sixers have the same amount of wins as the Timberwolves.

Some bullet points because a game lacking continuity and flow deserves a recap lacking continuity and flow. It's performance art, people.

• Suffering Wizards fans only grew more upset with their team following tonight's game. It's one thing to lose to the Sixers because one offs happen frequently enough, but the Wizards have not won a game since February 9 and their last two losses have been to the Timberwolves and the Sixers. For a team supposed to be in contention for the playoffs, that is kind of bad.
• Ish Smith had himself an interesting game. His overall shooting wasn't that special, going 2-10 from the field with 0 three point attempts, but he had four rebounds, six assists, a +10 rating, and was a key factor in the Sixers winning. I didn't believe it, but joint Wizard fans and UMD alumni may have. This is not the first time Ish Smith drove daggers into their hearts. We're a Sixers blog, but also, a 2010 Wake Forest blog.
• X-factor of the game may very well have been Thomas Robinson. The hilariously-almost-Net-but-now-even-more-hilariously-Sixer brought in nine rebounds in only 13 minutes of playing time. If TRob developed any skill half-as-good as his rebounding he could take the Iron Throne for himself and rule forever. Don't worry, Nets fans. You'll be sure to have the opportunity to watch TRob for yourselves on the 17th stop of TRob's 30-Team Tour.
• Everyone's favorite Almost-Sixer-But-Damn-You-Lottery John Wall led the game with 21 points. He also led the game with 26 shots. Evan Turner was last spotted drinking Lipton Tea with Kermit The Frog.
• Rolling right along, DeJuan Blair played one minute of the game and went 0-1 shooting. This is the kind of thing that makes me laugh. Pity my existence.
• Success is defined in many ways, for the Sixers tonight, it was Ish Smith, Thomas Robinson, Jason Richardson, and Nerlens Noel standing out in a game where people went out of their way to not stand out. Ish Smith, Thomas Robinson, Jason Richardson, and Nerlens Noel: now there's an interesting collection of basketball players.
• Wondering how the Wizards are getting along without Bradley Beal? Garrett Temple started at SG, played 19 minutes, and scored the same number of points tonight as Beal.
• I'll never forget where I was when I saw Luc Mbah a Moute air ball an end of game free throw. And the Sixers won despite LMAM doing a half-Kwame.
• Nerlens Noel had himself a game. 14 points on 5-9 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks. The kid's all right.