Wizards And 76ers Battle In Overtime, Wizards Get The Win, 116-115

Philly's bench outscored the Wizards 20-14 in the first five minutes of the final quarter. As a team, the Sixers were incredibly efficient. It's not that the Wizards were shooting poorly, it's just that Philadelphia was shooting exceedingly well.

To keep with the overall theme of the evening, Washington had seven baskets, offset by seven turnovers with just over two minutes left to play. Both teams were able to capitalize on the others' mistakes, making those turnovers even more costly.

Both teams were winless coming into the game tonight. It looked like the Sixers would come away with the win until Cartier Martin hit an awkward three-point shot with no time left on the clock. Overtime? Sure, the game wasn't quite long enough.

In overtime, both teams were trading baskets. Wall hit a big one, then Brand hit a big one. It seemed to go on for hours. Andray Blatche hit both free throws with 7.1 seconds left, putting the Wizards at 36-43 from the line for the night (the final 15 were made consecutively). As it turned out, those last free throws would be the game-winning shots. Time expired and the Wizards picked up their first win of the season.

John Wall had an impressive showing for his first home game. He had nine of the WIzards' 15 steals and 13 of their 24 assists. Wall finished with 29 points in 45 minutes, but also had eight turnovers. Off the bench, Nick Young had 20 points and went 3-3 from beyond the arc. Andray Blatch had a confusing array of airballs and quality shots, finishing with 19 points and seven rebounds.

For Philadelphia, Louis Williams led with 30 points, coming off the bench to play 32 minutes. He had 18 points in the fourth quarter alone. Elton Brand hit some big open shots and ended the game with 21 points and nine rebounds. Evan Turner, the #2 pick in the draft behind Wall, didn't have as big a night as his Wizards counterpart. He had 9 points and six rebounds.