Jeff Dowtin Jr. leads Sixers to 122-103 victory vs. Wizards, snapping 12-game losing streak

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 9, 2025

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WASHINGTON — The makeshift 76ers have something to feel good about.

The players fully aware of the tanking assignment. But that doesn’t take away their desire to win at least one of the remaining three games.

That victory came Wednesday in a 122-103 decision over the equally tanking Washington Wizards at the Capital One Arena.

The victory snapped the Sixers’ 12-game losing streak. It was just their fifth victory in 34 games. The good news is this victory shouldn’t impact the Sixers’ tanking.

The Sixers (24-56) still hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Brooklyn Nets for the league’s fifth-worst record. Another loss in the remaining two games will make it impossible for the Nets (26-53) to finish with a worse record.

The Sixers will conclude the season with a homestand against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday (7 p.m., NBCSP) and Chicago Bulls on Sunday (1 p.m., NBCSP).

Meanwhile, the league’s second-worst Wizards dropped to 17-63.

This game didn’t go without incident.

Lonnie Walker IV was called for a Flagrant 1 foul for shoving Kyshawn George to the court while trying to create separation with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the second quarter. The players had to be separated.

While Walker was the aggressor, Jeff Dowtin Jr. was the Wizard slayer.

The two-way point guard finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting — including 4 of 7 from 3 — to go with three assists in his first game since March 26.

Walker added 24 points and Quentin Grimes recorded a double-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Quentin scored his first basket — a 3-pointer — 1:10 into second half. The Sixers guard had two points on 0-for-10 shooting before intermission.

Adem Bona (17 points, nine rebounds), Jared Butler (13 points) and Ricky Council IV (11 points) were the Sixers’ other double-digit scorers. And Colin Castleton finished with two points and 14 rebounds.

The Sixers were, once again, without 10 of their normal rotation players. Grimes was cleared to play after being listed questionable with back soreness.

So for the second straight game, they unveiled a starting lineup of Walker, Bona, Grimes, Butler and Marcus Bagley. Dowtin, Castleton, Council and Alex Reese were the other available players.

Reese was only available for 11 minutes due to suffering a right Achilles tendon strain.

Dowtin was last made available since facing the Wizards at the Wells Fargo Center on March 26. That’s because as a two-way player, he is allotted only 50 regular-season games since his contract he signed before the season. Dowtin had been listed as active 48 times after March 26, which made him eligible for just two of the Sixers’ remaining nine games at that time.

So the team held the Upper Marboro, Md., native out until facing the Wizards, his hometown team, on Wednesday. The former standout at St. John’s College High School in D.C. made an impact. His highlight was scoring 11 straight points during one stretch in the third quarter.

But like the Sixers, the Wizards were without their best players.

Saddiq Bey (left knee ACL surgery), Malcolm Brogdon (left ankle sprain), Bilal Coulibaly (right hamstring strain), Anthony Gill (right hamstring soreness), Richaun Holmes (right shoulder contusion), Corey Kispert (left thumb surgery), Khris Middleton (right knee contusion) and Jordan Poole (right elbow contusion) were sidelined for Washington.

Guard Marcus Smart was held out of the game despite not being listed on the injury report. Meanwhile, JT Thor was ruled out of the second half with right knee soreness.