The Sixers are right back in action Sunday night hosting the Detroit Pistons with an opportunity to go 4-0 to start the young season.
Philadelphia is coming into this one on zero days rest after taking down the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night in what was a more competitive game than some may have expected going into it. Nevertheless, some impressive performances from Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey helped secure the win for the Sixers to keep them undefeated to start the 2026-27
regular season.
But no rest for the weary. Now, it’s on to the Pistons Sunday evening.
This being the second game of a back-to-back for Philadelphia means we won’t know exactly what lineup the Sixers will have available until this afternoon when the team’s injury report is due. We will bring you that info when it’s available, but we also have a few context clues from the start of this weekend. Embiid indeed played in Saturday’s contest, and the big fella has not played both ends of back-to-backs in years, but he did tell reporters postgame that he wanted to play Sunday, so you never really know. But one could reasonably expect him to possibly pop up on the report for this contest as out for rest/injury management. One can also expect LeBron James, who was out last night for sciatica management, to likely return for tonight.
Speaking of Embiid, it will be interesting to see what happens at the five if Embiid ends up not playing. Adem Bona has been… bad, to say the least. Dean Wade would be another option for starter at the five after making his season debut last night, but he is still playing with a bit of a tweaked ankle, so who knows. We will have to wait and see.
The Pistons have some injury news of their own for Sunday with Jalen Duren ruled out with a right hamstring strain. Duren had a great showing in the Pistons’ season opener, posting 22 points on 8-for-13 (61.5%) field goal shooting with nine rebounds, but only made it through part of the first half of their second outing before tweaking that hamstring and exiting the game. Former 76er Paul Reed will likely start at the five in his place after coming in off the bench for 26 minutes against the Miami Heat in Duren’s absence, posting one hell of a performance himself — 19 points on 8-for-10 field goal and 2-for-2 three-point shooting with 11 rebounds and three assists. Out the mud.
Also for Detroit, Ausar Thompson is questionable after exiting that same contest in the third quarter with an ankle sprain. It’s worth noting that Duren and Thompson are two of the top rebounders for Detroit, which I mention because the Sixers — despite being 3-0 — are still struggling with being outrebounded by their competition pretty consistently.
The Pistons are coming into Sunday on a day’s rest, so they will have that advantage over Philadelphia at least.
Detroit are led by two-time NBA All-Star Cade Cunningham who seems to already be in mid-season form on both ends of the floor, averaging 19.0 points (shooting 50.0% from the floor and 33.3% from long range) with 8.0 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.0 blocks per game over their first few contests. 32-year-old Duncan Robinson is up there with him leading the scoring, also posting 19.0 points per game so far, and the squad has a well-rounded supporting cast, with seven Pistons averaging double-digit points to start the season.
Not only that, but the Pistons have a bit of a tough few games ahead between facing the Sixers today and the New York Knicks on Tuesday, so they’ll be looking to hang tough and keep their heads above water while they await Duren’s return. Just like the Bucks, I wouldn’t expect them to shy away from the challenge Sunday evening.
The Sixers and Pistons tip off at 7:30 p.m. in South Philadelphia.
Game Details
When: Sunday, October 25, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
