What is the story about?
It’s always easier to predict a split back-to-back than actually go through it.
The Sixers fell 116-93 to the Detroit Pistons Saturday night, completing the season series sweep.
They are now 43-35 and will drop back a half game behind the Toronto Raptors for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Tyrese Maxey steadily put up 23 points and two assists going 8-of-17 from the field. Paul George opened the game on fire, going for 20 points and five rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting.
VJ Edgecombe fought his
way to 19 points shooting 7-of-18 from the field along with six rebounds. Tobias Harris led the Pistons with 19.
Joel Embiid (oblique injury management) and Johni Broome (meniscus tear) were out for Philadelphia while the Pistons were missing Cade Cunningham (lung) and Isaiah Stewart (calf strain).
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- A much different offensive start than the night before, but again it was George leading the way with his aggression. He got to the basket and drew a foul to get the Sixers their first points of the night before hitting three jumpers. Detroit made their first eight shots of the game. Harris was drawing boos on every touch. He got on the board at the line as well before cutting for a dunk and knocking down a jumper.
- Even when the Pistons finally missed a shot, they were able to tip back the offensive rebound. It was at the 6:03 mark of the quarter that the Sixers got their first proper stop of the game. The decision to start Andre Drummond hadn’t paid off defensively, but at least he had a couple offensive rebounds and a putback early himself. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Pistons took 57% of their shots at the rim — the league average is just 31.4%.
- Some calls were definitely debatable, but the Sixers didn’t do a great job of defending without fouling. They put the Pistons on the line 12 times in the quarter. Maxey, for example, hitting the forearm of Daniss Jenkins shooting a three was one the Sixers really couldn’t afford. Even with Maxey putting up 14 points in the first, the Sixers trailed by 10.
Second Quarter
- It took a couple of possessions, but the Sixers finally got their hands in some passing lanes and were able to get stops. Detroit wasn’t just walking into wide open baskets. George was able to deflect and steal a pass, leading to an Adem Bona basket that capped off a 7-0 Sixers’ run.
- Another big reason for the run was George continued to be a microwave scorer. Edgecombe had some aggressive drives for the first time all night, but George’s inability to miss a jumper was the Sixers’ engine. He got his 18 in the first half having only missed one shot.
- Unfortunately the Sixers’ bench took a hit as they were fighting back in this game. Cam Payne pulled something in his leg trying to chase down a loose ball. He immediately subbed out and was ruled out later in the night with a hamstring strain.
- Playing most of the first quarter meant the Sixers had to play most of the closing stretch without George. The drop off was again more noticeable on the defensive end. The Pistons were able to create some space. Old friend Bball Paul took Drummond off the dribble before Duncan Robinson made his first two threes of the night, helping the Pistons push their lead back up to 11.
Third Quarter
- The Sixers continued to have solid offense coming out of the half. Edgecombe set up Drummond wide open in the dunker spot and Maxey got himself a couple of baskets. Detroit’s size continued to overwhelm them on the other end though. Once Ausar Thomspon got open on a roll the Sixers couldn’t do anything to stop his lobs. Thompson to this point was also leading the Pistons in offensive rebounding as they were pulling down half of their misses.
- The game started to get out of hand for the Sixers when their offense went cold. They went scoreless for over four minutes. George was finally unable to make every jumper while the Pistons defense keyed in on Maxey. Nick Nurse angrily called a timeout as the Pistons took their largest lead of the game at 19.
- The Sixers started to string stops together coming out of that timeout, but not before a trip to the line for Jalen Duren and a three from Harris. Maxey and Edgecombe continued to attack but the Sixers’ offense was extremely top heavy in this one. The only baskets in the third not scored by those two or George was the dump off to Drummond and a putback by Bona. After eating into the lead a bit, a jumper by Ron Holland kept the Pistons up by 14.
Fourth Quarter
- With Kelly Oubre Jr. back in the starting lineup and Payne going down with an injury, the only hope for bench scoring was Quentin Grimes, who unfortunately, didn’t have it. Not only was he scoreless, but his turnover directly led to the Pistons first basket of the fourth after they had been kept off the board for a couple of minutes.
- The Sixers used their last gasp of this game to try a small lineup with Dominick Barlow as the five so that they could switch everything. They blew a switch on the first inbound coming out of the timeout, immediately giving up a wide open layup. Less than two minutes later and the white flag was raised. This wasn’t an easy game to stomach, but one more affordable to drop after their win over the Timberwolves.
