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The Sixers could have strutted into their Wednesday night game against the defending Lakers champion with a four-game winning streak.
They are still first in the Eastern Conference at 12-6, but not as high after a 119-104 loss Monday to the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.
Joel Embiid (back contraction) and Derrick Rose (left knee pain) were both dismissed. Mike Scott was absent with swelling in his right knee, while Vincent Poirier was absent due to NBA health and safety protocols.
Scott was called up for a technical foul at the start of the fourth quarter as he intervened following an exchange of words between Ben Simmons and Josh Jackson, coming off the bench to enter Jackson’s face and showing no Characteristically no hesitation in defending one of the stars of his team. . Jackson was sent off shortly after this altercation as he continued to speak with Simmons, punched him in the face and got a second technical foul.
Head coach Doc Rivers has said he expects Embiid to play on Wednesday, but is not yet sure if he will.
“His back is stiff and obviously we want to spend the season with everyone healthy,” Rivers said before the game. “That’s what you should do.”
Here are the observations of the Sixers’ loss on Monday in Detroit:
Late to the party
While one of Dwight Howard’s greatest strengths is his rebound, the Sixers have started miserably in this department. Detroit grabbed 11 of the game’s first 13 rebounds and took a 26-11 lead.
A little luck was involved in the extreme early rebound differential, but the Sixers were also lethargic. Getting whistled by Simmons for two fouls before five minutes had passed didn’t help. He was called up for his third early in the second period, which led Rivers to keep him on the bench for the remainder of the first half. Simmons couldn’t shake off his bad woes, biting off a false pump from Blake Griffin with 7:47 left in the third quarter. He finished the game with 11 points, four assists and four rebounds in 21 minutes.
“With Mike Scott out, we just can’t have a big problem with Ben and Tobias (Harris), and we’ve been in back-to-back games now,” said Rivers. “We did manage the other night, but we couldn’t get by tonight without Joel on the floor.
With all due respect to the Pistons, the Sixers should never be 15 points behind a 3-13 team eight minutes into a game, regardless of Embiid’s status, Simmons’ fouls or disagreements over refereeing (Howard picked up another technical foul, as he did on Saturday).
“I didn’t think we were ready,” Rivers said. “Defensively we weren’t organized. The first game in the game, they get a three – a game that we worked on. For me, that tells me something about us that I didn’t like. Again , you can’t collect them. It does happen, but I thought there were a few times in the game that we had a chance to play it again.
“The only thing – and the team has to know that – when you don’t have a Joel or Ben playing, or the one who isn’t playing and they’re your key guys, when you spot a squad of 14, that gonna be tough to win this game. I thought tonight was a prime example of that.
Matisse Thybulle’s level of activity stood out from that of his teammates in the first half by looking for opportunities for renewal and adding the necessary energy.
Tony Bradley started the second half for Howard and did well. The 23-year-old recorded 12 points and nine rebounds in the game and reinforced his argument for playing time on the road.
The big picture without Embiid
The Sixers are now 0-4 without Embiid this season.
This record does not mean that the team should desperately search for another vault solution. Howard is a decent second unit big man who hasn’t played his best during the missed games at Embiid. One problem with Howard is that his game doesn’t naturally match Simmons as well as Al Horford’s, as he offers a lot less in terms of shooting, floor space, and passing. That said, it was perfectly reasonable for Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey to invest in a possible save-center bargain, signing Howard a minimum veteran contract for the season after the Sixers had won. gave Horford a four-year contract with $ 97 million guaranteed.
Maybe the Sixers could explore some creative internal options, like more small-ball lineup in games where Embiid is absent, but Simmons at center certainly didn’t look like a panacea.
If Embiid isn’t healthy for the playoffs, the Sixers’ chances of winning games and playoffs drop dramatically. It’s not a big revelation.
We’ve seen, at least in their first nine games together, that the individual components of the Sixers’ premier starting lineup improve on each other. The Sixers are yet to lose when Simmons, Embiid, Seth Curry, Danny Green and Tobias Harris start. According to Cleaning the Glass, this group has an excellent net score of plus-18.9 in 379 non-garbage assets.
When a piece or two was missing – especially a player like Embiid, one of the league’s most valuable – the Sixers were much easier to beat.
On the wrong side of the free throw disparity
The Sixers entered Game 2 in the NBA in offensive free throw rate and 13th in defensive free throw rate, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Embiid was a huge factor in their success, of course, and the team lost the free throw battle badly on Monday night without him. Detroit shot 32 for 38 from the foul line, while the Sixers were 15 for 20. In addition to the simple fact of Embiid’s absence, these numbers also indicate that the Pistons are making more contact (and with great efficiency) than the Sixers.
Simmons, after making 10 of 12 free throws on Saturday, converted just 1 of 3. Harris, who led the Sixers in the scoring with 25 points, made 2 of 4 fouls.
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