The Sixers play poorly against undermanned teams — and that troubling trend continued in Washington

The 76ers said they have to do better, and that the Washington Wizards made shots on Wednesday night.

But in reality, the Sixers lost, 106-103, to the woeful Wizards because they did what they always do: play down to the level of their opponents.

There’s no other way to explain what happened over a span of 72 hours.

On Monday, the Sixers (31-20) were without their franchise player, Joel Embiid, and still managed to post a thrilling 122-119 win over the talented Memphis Grizzlies. The Sixers then turned around and lost to the woeful and undermanned Wizards after Embiid returned Wednesday.

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This order of events followed a pattern, as the Sixers’ thrilling back-to-back wins against the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat last month were followed by a blowout loss to the Wizards.

The argument could be made that the Wizards simply have the Sixers’ number, which would be a logical conclusion if this were an isolated event.

The Sixers escaped with a 103-101 home victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday after Harrison Barnes missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. They also needed a pair of foul shots from Embiid and Tyrese Maxey in the final 14.9 seconds to clinch a 115-109 road win over the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 23. And they blew a 24-point lead in a 102-101 home setback to the decimated Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 21.

Back on Dec. 28, the Sixers needed a 36-point performance from Embiid and a triple-double performance and clutch free throws late by Tobias Harris to cap a 114-109 victory over a Raptors squad compromised by COVID-19.

And these were just a few of the Sixers’ recent losses or closer-than-expected-victories against lower-level competition.

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Barely beating — or losing to — struggling teams has become commonplace for this franchise despite their contention for the Eastern Conference title. They’re in third place and 1 ½ games behind the first-place Chicago Bulls heading into Thursday night’s league action.

However, the Sixers have a combined 3-1 record against the Bulls (32-18) and second-place Heat (32-10). Staying true to the trend, their lone loss was a 101-96 decision on Dec. 15 when Miami only had 10 available players because of injuries and Caleb Martin being in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols. Not only were the Heat undermanned, they were without three of their best players — five-time All-Star Jimmy Butler, fellow All-Star Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro.

But Wednesday’s setback to the Wizards (24-27) was sandwiched between the Sixers’ victory over theGrizzlies (36-18) and road matchups with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and Bulls on Sunday. The Grizzlies and Mavericks are third and sixth in the Western Conference, respectively.

Sixers coach Doc Rivers disagreed with the assertion that Wednesday’s matchup was a trap game. But Washington was riding a six-game losing streak and playing their second game in as many nights.

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“I just consider it a loss,” Rivers said. “Every night, when you win or lose games, sometimes you just lose a game. There’s no trick reason why. We won a game that a lot of people thought we shouldn’t have won the other night and we’re gonna lose some games that we think we should win, but it’s no reason for them.

“Sometimes, they just show up and you live with them and you move on to the next game. At least that’s what I do.”

The Sixers now turn their attention to the Mavericks and Bulls, but things won’t get any easier after their two-game road trip, with a home game against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. At 41-9, the Suns have the league’s best record.

“We are going to have our hands full,” Georges Niang said. “But I think we are prepared and ready. We tend to respond, but we’re really going to need to respond in these next two games coming up.”