PHILADELPHIA, PA — In need of a major distraction, the Philadelphia 76ers welcomed the Detroit Pistons to town in the first return for Tobias Harris and Paul Reed since departing this summer. Boos rang down from the Sixers faithful who made the journey to the Center as they made sure Tobias knew, even still, just how they felt about his time in Philadelphia.
Before the game began, the Sixers started the evening with questions continuously brought to Nick Nurse about the return of Joel Embiid and Paul George. However, the story quickly became the poor performance of the offense against the 0-4 Pistons.
After allowing a quick 4-0 run, the Sixers’ offense responded, looking like a team that, while immensely shorthanded, should, in theory, be in a class above the winless Pistons. As the game labored on, Philadelphia’s became increasingly frigid from the field, particularly from deep.
Meanwhile, the Pistons, led by Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, had no issues finding the bottom of the net from range, shooting 41.7% from three as a team. This is the third time in four games this season that Philadelphia has allowed their opponent to shoot better than 40% from deep against them.
That three-point disparity was a large factor in the loss for Philadelphia. Also, working against them was yet another loss in the rebounding battle, losing the matchup on the boards by a score of 49-37 in Detroit’s favor.
Was it the length of Detroit against the forced small-ball lineups of Philadelphia? In part, but as Sixers head coach Nick Nurse pointed out after the game, the team was overextending themselves during rebounding opportunities, taking themselves out of the opportunity altogether.
Philadelphia will attempt to get right on Saturday against the Memphis Grizzlies, potentially with reinforcements, although nothing can be counted upon until Embiid and George physically take the court.
