The Washington Wizards MUST win tonight against Philadelphia

The Washington Wizards have fell short in ten out of their last 12 matchups, and must get back on track sooner or later. They were defeated by a very weak Minnesota Timberwolves team by a 20-point margin in their last game, and face an even weaker team tonight.

The Wizards will travel to Philadelphia tonight and take on the 12-45 76ers. After trading away their star player Michael Carter-Williams prior to the trade deadline, it is quite evident that Philly is in full-blown rebuilding mode. They have the second-worst record in the league this year, and will stay in that vicinity throughout the rest of the season.

Philly is dead last in the league in team-points per game, 25th in assists, and 22nd in rebounds. They have a couple of talented players on the roster that haven’t been able to participate much due to injuries. Nerlens Noel falls under this category.

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After missing his entire rookie year to a torn ACL, Noel has participated in 53 games this season. He has played 30.3 minutes a game, and has rebounded pretty well, but it will take time for him to develop. Another player that has loads of potential and has fought through injuries is center Joel Embiid.

The third-overall pick in this past years draft has not played in a single NBA game thus far due to a broken navicular bone in his right foot. He was slated to miss five-to-eight months initially, and it is pretty clear that he will not participate at all this season.

That means that the 76ers will have to wait until next season to see what the Kansas standout can do. He played 28 games in his one year with Jayhawks, averaging 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting an incredible 63% from the field. Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker were the consensus first and second picks in that draft, but Embiid trailed right behind them.

With that being said, this is a game that Washington must have. They are currently in the midst of a five-game losing streak, and there is no better way to end this string then taking your anger out on a very weak 76ers team.

After losing to one weak team in Minnesota on Wednesday night, they can ill-afford to fall to yet another sluggish club. This team is smart enough to know what they have to do, and although they haven’t looked that way over the last six weeks or so, they should be able to take care of business tonight in the City of Brotherly Love.

Next: What in the world is going on in the Nation's Capital?