76ers send reeling Wizards to 6th consecutive loss

Things didn't look like they could get much worse for the Washington Wizards.

And then they visited the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, and lost 89-81. The lesson: things can always get worse.

The Wizards have now inexplicably dropped six consecutive games, falling to 33-26 and into a tie with the Milwaukee Bucks for fifth in the Eastern Conference. If the Bucks win Friday, Washington will be down in sixth, a precipitous drop from third, where they stood on Feb. 10 before the losing streak began.

It's hard to explain exactly what's gone wrong. They're dealing with injuries - Bradley Beal has missed the entire skid, Paul Pierce sat Wednesday and Friday and Kris Humphries was out Friday, too - but this should still be a team that can handle the 13-45 Sixers, who are working in a ton of new faces.

During the losing stretch, the Wizards rank 29th in offense and 25th in defense, large declines from 14th and fifth, respectively, where they sat before the streak.

It was the offense abandoning them Friday against a deceptively strong Sixers defense. Washington shot 32.3 percent from the floor, led by John Wall and his 7-of-26 mark. Not a single player shot above .500, and the Wizards were edged at the 3-point line, the free-throw line and in the rebounding battle.

Credit Philadelphia for putting forth an all-out effort. Really, watching its games should allay any fear the actual on-court team is tanking. Jason Richardson hit four triples on the way to 12 points and five assists, Nerlens Noel stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks, and the defense papered over a 35 percent team shooting night.

The Wizards will look to get back on track against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. While the Pistons have been solid, they played a double-overtime game Friday and will be traveling to D.C., giving the Wizards a potential chance to right the ship. 

Then again, Friday looked like such an opportunity, too.