Sixers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey stays hot, Jared McCain excels, and more from win vs. Wizards

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHILADELPHIA — Paul George continues to show why Nick Nurse raves over his defense.

Jared McCain continues to round into shape.

Tyrese Maxey only trails Hall of Famers Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain when it comes to the highest point total through 20 games in franchise history.

And the Washington Wizards are tough to watch.

Those things stood out in the Sixers’ 121-102 victory over the Wizards on Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

George’s defense

The Sixers (11-9) may face a tough decision if George continues to excel on defense. Once believed to be untradeable, the 6-foot-8 forward could be a nice addition for a contender looking for a solid defender. Or he could be a player the Sixers believe can continue to help Maxey.

While he’s not the player he was a few seasons ago, George can still hold his own depending on the matchup.

He had a tough time defending Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo on Nov. 23. And George may also struggle against some of the league’s quicker perimeter players. But aside from that, he hasn’t had a problem.

The nine-time All-Star had one steal to go with 11 points and five rebounds in just 17 minutes, 43 seconds against the Wizards. The 35-year-old was highly active on defense. He continued to show his physicality. That enabled him to blanket the players he guarded. He also crashed the defensive boards.

His most significant impact through six games has come on the defense, where he’s averaging 1.8 steals. He tallied a season-high five steals in Sunday’s 142-134 double-overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

But his shooting has been inconsistent. George has gotten off to solid starts in a couple of games, but has been unable to sustain them. And he has struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 35.3% on 3-pointers during his first six games.

But the biggest question about George is his durability. Prospective teams will have to ask themselves whether they are willing to trade for someone knowing there’s a chance he could suffer another injury.

McCain’s play

McCain has been playing with a solid pace in recent games. His pace and shot making ability has shown why he was last season’s Rookie of the Year front-runner before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

The combination guard averaged 16.7 points while shooting 47.4% on 3-pointers during a three-game stretch against the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets. Then after struggling on Sunday against the Hawks, McCain bounced back against the Wizards.

The 21-year-old finished with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting — including making two 3-pointers — along with five assists in 25 minutes.

McCain scored seven of his points in the first quarter. As a solid distributor, he’s been a nice asset for the Sixers. He paces the game for them and fits well with George and Maxey. His weakness has been his defense, where opponents try to find matchups with him.

But McCain hasn’t shown any adverse effects from his surgically repaired left knee.

Maxey’s latest milestone

After scoring a game-high 35 points, Maxey now has 649 points through 20 games. That ranks third behind Iverson (681 in 2005-06) and Chamberlain (661 in 1965-66).

This is just another milestone in what has been a terrific start to the season for Maxey. His 35 points came on 13-for-26 shooting in just 28:49. He also finished with six assists, four rebounds and four steals while being a plus-23.

Maxey is third in the league in scoring at 32.5 points.

Wizards great at tanking

It’s hard to believe the Sixers needed overtime to defeat the Wizards, 139-134, on Oct. 28 at the Capital One Arena.

On Tuesday, they were hard to watch.

Washington (3-17) shot 39.8% from the field, including 9 of 36 from 3-point range, and committed 15 turnovers, which led to 28 Sixers points.

Wizards fans will point to Alex Sarr (right adductor strain), Corey Kispert (right thumb distal phalanx fracture), Tre Johnson (left hip flexor strain), Khris Middleton (right knee injury management) and Sharife Cooper (right calf strain) all missing Tuesday’s game.

But the Sixers were without Joel Embiid (right knee injury recovery), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee sprain), Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) and Quentin Grimes (right calf soreness).

The Sixers shot 42.5% from 3 while having six double-digit scorers.

Andre Drummond (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Jabari Walker (10 points, 12 rebounds) finished with double-doubles in a game that was all but over in the third quarter.