Sixers fall to Pistons in embarrassing effort, Quentin Grimes shows promise

The Philadelphia 76ers fell in an unexpected 125-112 loss to the Detroit Pistons in Detroit on Friday night. Losing by only 13 points is an accomplishment for how Philly played, as they were down by an astounding 34 points at one point in this game.

Philadelphia is now 20-31 and the 11 seed in the East, 1.5 games back of the Chicago Bulls. The Detroit Pistons improved to .500 and are 26-26. This win pushes the Pistons over Miami and now holds the 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

This game once again has just simply defined how the season is going:

Nobody cares. Simple as that.

The 76ers don’t care. From the front office to the players on the court, nobody wants to put in the effort that it takes to be successful.

In Friday night’s game, we watched Philadelphia:

• Let Malik Beasley put up 36
• Let the Pistons go up 34 points
• Joel Embiid walk around the court while everyone else plays
• Embiid push around Kelly Oubre for his effort
• Paul George disappear on the court

When will it end?

When will somebody decide to do something about this?

Beasley, who never even made an All-Star team, dropped a career-high 36 points against Philadelphia on Friday, including 6 first-half threes. He ended with 9 threes, but it wasn’t just his shooting that helped the Pistons attack the Sixers.

It was his effort.

Sprinting all over the court, picking up on every Philadelphia mistake, taking advantage, and simply wanting to win was what made him explode offensively.

It wasn’t just Beasley who showed effort, though. The entire Pistons lineup seemed like they just wanted it more. From Roman Catholic’s own Jalen Duren picking Embiid’s pocket with ease to Tobias Harris fighting for rebounds (about time), Detroit played pure; dog hoops one might call it.

Embiid did not.

Embiid scored just 3 points in the first half of Friday’s game, luckily picking up the pace in the second half. But it wasn’t just his scoring that was bad. Embiid was getting dogged at the rim. While he did finish with 7 rebounds, most of them fell into his hands. The 7 footer didn’t look like he wanted the ball.

Not only this, but the team’s so-called star player has the audacity to put his hands on Kelly Oubre Jr. for his “effort.”

Joel Embiid calling out Kelly Oubre for not hustling back on defense pic.twitter.com/F7rRIVRe9a

— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) February 8, 2025

If there is one player on the Sixers that goes out every night and plays, it is Oubre. Offensively, he has his mishaps occasionally, but defensively and on the boards he is a pest. The 6 foot 8 guard/forward snagged 11 rebounds along with his 14 points against Detroit. To yell at him over his effort is absurd.

George, on the other hand, seems to just not exist.

When you hear the name, Paul George, you think of a perennial star who has a chance to be a hall of famer. If you ask a Sixers fan, sometimes it seems like he’d be better off on the bench than in the starting lineup. The man simply does not care. Podcast P spends more time in the studio than he does on the court and it shows. The max contract that he “earned” this offseason is blasphemous when his stats are brought up from this season. The “star” finished with just 14 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

Now, if there is something good to take away from this loss, it is Quentin Grimes. Grimes scored an impressive 14 points off the bench in his first career game in Philadelphia on 5 for 9 shooting. He shot 2 for 5 from beyond the arc and nailed both of his free throws in his 28 minutes of playing time. The 25-year-old who was acquired from Dallas for Caleb Martin has the potential to get serious time in the rotation for Philly and if he continues to play the way that he just did, Daryl Morey may have finally done something right outside of the draft.

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