By: Kylan Watson
After beating the Toronto Raptors last night, the Philadelphia 76ers played the Detroit Pistons for the first time this season. Both teams traded blows throughout this contest, but thanks to a fourth quarter scoring explosion from Cade Cunningham, Detroit was able to beat Philly 111-108.
The Pistons found their offensive rhythm from the opening tip off; they were able to hit multiple baskets early in this contest and before Philly could even settle into the game they were down by double digits. Cade Cunningham (26 points and had 11 assists) and Jalen Duren (21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in this contest) combined for 47 of Detroit’s 111 points. Philly held Cunningham in check throughout this contest, but in the fourth quarter he exploded and there was nothing the Sixers could do to stop him. He scored 24 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and that was the difference maker in this contest. Cunningham was able to power his team to a victory despite all the attention he drew, and the Sixers did not have it late in this contest, they missed multiple high-percentage shooting opportunities late in this contest and settled for three-pointers instead of attacking the basket.
Tyrese Maxey once again had a great game and scored 33 points in this game which continues his hot scoring run. Unfortunately, late in the fourth quarter Maxey and his teammates could not put enough points on the board to keep up with Detroit. Despite having several chances to take this game from them. Their late game execution, turnovers, and bad defensive communication were key factors in why they lost this game. For example, Cunningham blew by a double team and converted an and-one dunk attempt over Andre Drummond. Maxey did not communicate with his teammates where to send Cunningham and that led to the Drummond foul which allowed Detroit to pull away from Philly in this contest. Things like this happened too often in this game, especially in the fourth quarter.
The Sixers had 19 turnovers in this contest and only 22 assists, last night they had 31 assists and only 13 turnovers. Philly once again relied on hero ball instead of team basketball late in this game and that turned a winnable game into their fourth loss of the season. The Sixers front office must find someone who can stabilize Philly’s perimeter defensive scheme because what has happened over these past 10 games is not it. Paul George should be incoming but until then the Sixers must be better at the defensive end, if they want to win games and continue to be a top team in the Eastern Conference.
Philly will now prepare to face the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night for the third time this season, they will need to limit their turnovers, communicate on the defensive end, and continue to use their ball movement to create high-percentage shooting opportunities. The Sixers cannot let Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown cook them again like they did two weeks ago. Staying connected to their man and limiting the effectiveness of both players should be a priority for them, if they want to secure their seventh victory of the season.