10-point halftime lead all for naught as Sixers fall to Detroit

Despite holding a 64-54 lead at the half, the 76ers were defeated by the Detroit Pistons 111-108 in the second half of Philly’s back-to-back.

Philadelphia drops from the 2 seed to the 7 seed in the Eastern Conference standings and is now 6-4 on the year, while the Pistons maintain their spot at the top of the East with an 8-2 record.

The Sixers have struggled in the 3rd quarter at an alarming rate so far; Sunday night’s game was no different. Detroit outscored Philadelphia 34-21 in the 3rd period, erasing the Sixers’ first-half effort. The inability to score in the latter half of the game has greatly hurt Nick Nurse’s squad, and something needs to change.

Cade Cunningham was unstoppable down the stretch at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, scoring two clutch baskets to add on to his 26-point performance. Cunningham added 11 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal to go along with his 26 points in South Philly. Up by 2 points with just under 2 minutes remaining, Cunningham drove down the left lane-line right into Kelly Oubre Jr. and elevated for a one-handed slam with a foul to go up by 5 after his made free throw. Philadelphia was unable to recover from this mishap, and Cunningham’s fadeaway 11-foot jumper with just under 17 seconds remaining solidified the win. A chucked-up Tyrese Maxey three prevented the Sixers from tying the game up and confirmed Cade as the hero of Detroit.

Nurse has been a problem in late-game scenarios for the Sixers, calling inexcusably inefficient sets in multiple games. Similar to Philadelphia’s 2-point loss to Chicago, Nurse called up a play that had Maxey completely out of it, standing in the backcourt. However, when Oubre and Quentin Grimes struggled with heavy Detroit pressure, Maxey ran into the play, just to shoot a forced three with time expiring. It’s important to note that Nurse still had a timeout remaining, but instead elected to have Philadelphia struggle to get a shot off and force something rather than talk it over.

Along with Cunningham, Philadelphia native and Roman Catholic alumnus Jalen Duren was on fire for the Pistons, dropping 21 points and snagging 16 rebounds in the win. He shot an efficient 8 for 11 from the field and knocked down 5 of his 7 free throw attempts.

Also contributing for the Pistons was Duncan Robinson, who had 17 points with 4 three pointers, and Caris LeVert, who added 14 points off the bench, shooting 4 for 6 from the field.

As for Philadelphia, Maxey’s 33 points led the team in scoring, and his 7 dishes led the team. Despite his high-scoring affair, Maxey shot an ugly 10 for 26 (38.5%) from the field, but did knock down 4 of his 12 threes and all 9 of his free throws. His efforts on the defensive side of the ball were noteworthy, with a late-game steal and slam that contributed to the comeback attempt by Philly.

With Joel Embiid out due to load management, Andre Drummond continued to take advantage of his time on the floor. Drummond scored 17 points, including 2 three-pointers, and snatched 12 rebounds. His counterpart, Adem Bona, only saw 12 minutes on the court on Sunday, but was able to deflect 3 shots and grab 4 boards. Jabari Walker also looked good off the bench, scoring 12 points in 18 minutes of play.

Jared McCain continued to look rough on the floor in his second game back. McCain couldn’t get on the scoring sheet against Detroit and looked rather uncomfortable handling the ball. He seems to still not have acclimated back to the level he was playing at last year before he went down with his knee injury, but there is still plenty of time for him to adjust.

The Sixers take a 2-day break and will take on the Boston Celtics at home on Veteran’s Day, which will mark the 3rd matchup for the two Atlantic Division squads in the first 11 games. Coverage for Tuesday night’s contest will be on NBC.

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