76ers comeback falls short, suffer first loss to Pistons
Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey reacts to the foul called against him during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Detroit Pistons, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The 76ers have lost their first game of the 2026-27 season despite a near-incredible comeback effort.
The Detroit Pistons’ hot shooting and rebounding diminished the Sixers’ hopes of a comeback attempt, dropping the Sixers to 3-1 on the season with a 106-93 loss in Game 2 of their first back-to-back of the season.
Tyrese Maxey led the charge for the Sixers on Sunday with 29 points; LeBron James also produced 18 points, and Jaylen Brown chipped in 16. Adem Bona also looked better on the glass, racking up 13 rebounds.
The Pistons had scoring from all three levels, and the Sixers simply could not get stops when they needed to down the stretch. The Sixers showed a lot of fight in the third quarter, but ultimately, they struggled to pick up any ground on the Pistons in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers were without Joel Embiid Sunday night as he was given a rest after recording a triple-double in Saturday night’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks; however, James returned to the lineup after resting Saturday. VJ Edgecombe was a late scratch due to an abdominal contusion, and Jabari Walker was also out with left knee soreness.
The Pistons started the game on a 7-0 run led by a step-back three-pointer by Cade Cunningham and easy layups down low in the paint. Through the first 2:30, the Pistons were outrebounding the Sixers 6-0.
The Pistons kept their foot on the gas, extending the early lead to 12-1, forcing Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and the Sixers to call an early timeout. They were able to build a 34-22 lead at the end of the first quarter due to poor shooting, rebounding, and not closing out on shooters on the Sixers’ side of things.
The Sixers were able to cut the deficit to twelve headed into halftime as James got downhill and scored a buzzer-beater layup to end the half with the Sixers trailing 56-44 at halftime.
They continued the end of the first half’s success into the second, going on an 18-2 run from the end of the second quarter to the third. The run was led by James, and the Sixers’ offense just came out with fire on all three levels in the third quarter, trimming the lead to five and making the score 58-53 Pistons.
The third quarter ended in the Sixers’ favor as rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr. knocked down a three. However, the Sixers still found themselves down 78-69 at the end of the third quarter, and while they did pick up some ground, they still found themselves trailing headed into the final quarter of the game.
Maxey completely put his foot on the gas in most of the fourth quarter with 16 points in the final frame alone with just over three minutes to play, but the Sixers still found themselves trailing 99-89.
Things just got worse for the Sixers from there; Maxey collided heads with John Collins, eventually re-entering, and a left-corner three-pointer from Daniss Jenkins gave the Pistons a 104-93 lead with just one minute remaining, closing it out to remain unbeaten.
The Sixers will return back to action Wednesday night when they will take on the Indiana Pacers on the road.
Braydin Adams
Braydin is a young, passionate sportswriter looking to build a highly successful career in Journalism. Alongside Philly Sports Reports, he contributes to LebcoSports.com, where he covered the Northern Lebanon Baseball District 3 championship and covers other sports and writes on local athletes. Adams also contributes to lwoSports.com. Braydin is a dedicated young writer hoping to be a professional beat writer one day.
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