Not Mad, Just Disappointed — 76ers Fall to Pistons at Home

The 76ers return home after a quick two-game road trip where they split games against Indiana and Toronto. It was also the homecoming for two former 76ers: Tobias Harris and Paul Reed.

The Sixers came out completely flat losing to an 0-4 Detroit Pistons, 105-95.

The Sixers are back in action Saturday at home against the Grizzlies, in the meantime, here are the takeaways from tonight’s disappointing loss. 

Really… Tobias Harris and the Pistons?

Handing a team their first win just over a week into the season is always a demoralizing feeling. To their credit, however, this Pistons team is way better than their now 1-4 record shows. Their four losses went as follows: home to the Pacers by 6, in Cleveland by 12, to the Celtics by 6, and in Miami by 8. This is a tough four-game stretch for any team and they were very competitive in each game. Add the Sixers in that stretch, I think a lot of teams would sign for just a 2-3 record.

So what has looked good from the Pistons this year? Well, an obvious site is the youth movement. Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, and Jaden Ivey have been off to hot starts. Cunningham has a stat line of 26, 6, and 8 on fairly efficient shooting. Ivey has come into his own, averaging 21 points on 42.9% from three. Finally, Duren is averaging a very respectable double-double. These young guys hounded the boards and absolutely destroyed the transition game all night. Along with the acquisitions of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley, this Pistons team will be a tough night-in and night-out team. 

Sixers’ Offensive Issues Starting to Become Worrisome? 

Not one Sixer looked good tonight, except for Andre Drummond, of course. Drummond fell a point shy of his third double-double of the year.

Overall, the Sixers shot 8-28 from three, a 28.6% clip. This is actually on par for the 76ers this year as they are dead last in 3-point percentage.

Tyrese Maxey on paper had a so-so game, 32 points on 12-25 from the field, but he’s at the point in his career where 30 points is the baseline. He’s got to be the one who wins these types of games in Joel Embiid’s absence. It’s becoming a tired sentiment at this point, but it still stands.

Overall, they couldn’t get momentum offensively, as I previously mentioned, the Pistons owned the transition game. When a team outruns you, it can be very hard to grab the game back and get it back to your pace, the Sixers just simply didn’t have their footing. Kelly Oubre, Caleb Martin, and Kyle Lowry combined for 23 points on 8 for 27 from the field. After receiving some high praise following the first few games, these guys set the tone for the rest of the team and were just, meh.

Moreover, the 76ers are 9th in FGA but just 28th in FG% in the league, and another very worrisome stat, they are 2nd in FTA, but 25th in FT%. Both these stats are bonkers and very telling. They show that the Sixers are getting their looks, they just aren’t converting. 

When Can We Expect Embiid and George?

This question will dominate the Sixers’ discourse for the entire season. Just because of the nature of both their injuries, because the Sixers are not very timely and informative with reports, and because of load management we probably won’t get 10 games where we’re certain both are playing well before tip-off.

It was shocking news to see Paul George ruled out of tonight’s game, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said there was a good chance he played on Monday. Clearly, the Sixers are being very cautious and tentative with both their injuries.

So when should we see them suit up? Well, Nick Nurse was actually asked this pregame and gave a very Sixers-y answer. He said they’d get a better idea on Friday.

This tells us nothing, so once again all we can do is speculate. I believe they return for that Saturday game against Memphis, just for the simple fact I do not see them returning in the middle of a road trip. It is worth noting, Embiid was nowhere to be found on the bench tonight and George was present.  

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