The Philadelphia 76ers have taken an obvious step forward from last season. In play, in attack, in confidence, in seriousness … The arrival of Doc Rivers to the bench, and the occasional signing, has been a blessing for a team that was beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Proof of all this is the leadership of the East, which they have been wearing for weeks. However, a storm is brewing in paradise. Tonight they lost to the Detroit Pistons in a pretty bad Sixers game and, although their coach is not worried (“I’m not going to give more importance to this loss than he has, it’s too early yet. I like my team and as we are playing in general lines “), there is a fact that should not be taken lightly.
Joel Embiid did not play last night due to back pain and the fact that the Cameroonian was not there and that the Sixers lost is no coincidence. The Philadelphia team have lost in the last six games in which their center has not been present, three of them this year. For a team that wins significantly more than it loses, this causal relationship is obvious and worrying, considering Embiid’s physique, which has forced him to play less than other stars every year (either by missing matches or sparing minutes).
The truth is that the meeting had no mystery whatsoever. The Pistons, who were not below the scoreboard for a single minute, gained distance in the first quarter and their rival was unable to stop it at any time. The closest the Sixers got was 7 points in the third quarter and 9 in the last. Fifthing Tobias Harris’ 25 goals and Tyrese Maxey’s 17 from the bench, the rest of the visiting players had a fair day, bad or very bad. Quite the opposite of two of his rivals: Delon Wright and Wayne Ellington.
The former achieved the highest score of his career (28 points), also remaining close to triple-double (7 rebounds and 9 assists). The second deserves special mention. 20 points and, here’s the thing, a 6/9 triples in his fifth straight game with at least four shots of three made, equaling Joe Dumars’ franchise best at 98-99. Ellington is on an impressive streak – he’s made 30 of his last 50 shots from the perimeter – and his coach, Dwane Casey, has compared him to Ray Allen and Dirk Nowitzki in that aspect of the game.
Together with 25 points from Jerami Grant, who is still in excellent form, they were enough arguments for the bottom of the league (who continues to be despite the victory) knocked down the leader of his conference (who continues to be despite of defeat). And that this time the Pistons bench, the league’s highest scorer (44.1 points) stayed at 29. The Sixers host the Lakers tomorrow in a leaders’ duel that will be a touchstone to assess where they stand find exactly the Philadelphia team.
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