PHILADELPHIA – Anyone who saw the Philadelphia 76ers' final score against the Washington Wizards can see why the Sixers lost. The final score of 121-111 shows that they were very poor on defense. Despite strong showings from Tyrese Maxey and James Harden, Philly fell to 4-5 on the season.

Before the game, Rivers explained that the Sixers look to get three stops in a row. Against the Wizards, they allowed buckets three times in a row more frequently. Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 59 points as Washington shot 57.7 percent from the field. Maxey said that communication is one of the key things the Sixers have to be better at.

“Switching, you got cross-matches. Everybody in the league is doing it now. So, when we switch sometimes, we gotta remember who we’re guarding. Sometimes guys are crashers, sometimes you can help off guys. I think that’s one of our biggest things right now,” Maxey said. “When we switch, we gotta be able to communicate better with each other and then know who we’re guarding after we switch…I think that’s one of our biggest things that we need to improve on right now.”

The Sixers have looked to switch more on defense, especially when Embiid sits. Rivers plugs P.J. Tucker in the starting lineup to emphasize versatility on defense. The Wizards used the biggest weakness that Philly had: a lack of size in the paint. They got a lot of shots close to the hoop and converted a lot of them.

“We've done it in the last couple times that [Embiid] didn't play. It's worked for us because we got competitive guys. We got guys who feel like they can guard different guys,” Maxey said. “The biggest thing is we gotta keep communicating. When we go into the gym tomorrow, after we see all the film and see what we're doing wrong, then we go out there and execute it on the practice court and then bring it to the game.”

Maxey is right that the small-ball lineups have worked, but Wednesday's game was absolutely not one of those examples. The Sixers return to action on Friday against the New York Knicks at Wells Fargo Center.