Embiid, Harris, Simmons combine for 70, Sixers squeak past Pistons

After a rousing victory over your most intense and storied rival, sometimes it’s difficult to muster the same energy and competitive spirit for your next opponent. This is particularly true when that next opponent is the very worst team in the league record wise, and is set to be playing without two of its better players.

Such was the case on Saturday night when the Sixers visited the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit to play the Pistons, minus sixth man Derrick Rose and starting forward Blake Griffin. Philadelphia was coming off an exhilarating 2-game sweep of the Celtics at home, and their effort against 3-12 Detroit was anything but pretty. The best teams find ways to win those games, though, and that’s exactly what the Sixers did, gutting out a tough 114-110 win to improve their best-in-conference record to 12-5.

The trio of Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons carried the team in this one, which is exactly what you’d expect from your three highest paid players. Embiid was his typically dominant self. For the third consecutive game, he feasted at the free throw line, making 12-of-17. His final tally included 33 points and 14 rebounds. It was the 50th 30-10 game of his career in only his 223rd game, making him the second fastest ever to reach that mark behind only Shaquille O’Neal.

Harris went for 17 points on 14 shots, draining 3 of his five 3-point attempts. The 28-year-old forward is tracking towards career high shooting from all spots on the floor, hitting 51.7% of his shots overall including 54.6% of his twos, 45.5% of his threes, and 90.3% of his free throws. He has also been more active defensively than ever, averaging a career high 1.0 block per game. He swatted two shots on Saturday night.

Simmons played perhaps his best all around game of the season. He scored 20 points for the first time this year on just 7 shots, aided by a pleasantly surprising 10-of-12 showing from the line. He added 9 rebounds and 7 assists and was a whirlwind at the other end, racking up 3 steals and a block.

Still, it was a somewhat sloppy and disjointed affair for the Sixers. They turned the ball over more often (15) than they collected assists (14), and they made just 8-of-23 from deep (34.8%). Seth Curry produced 14 points, but for the first time all season he failed to connect on a single 3-pointer (0-of-3). The bench was also thoroughly outplayed, totaling only 23 points while Detroit received 55 from its second unit.

The Sixers were able to keep Pistons’ leading scorer Jerami Grant in check. The 6’8” wing entered the contest averaging 25.1 points per game but managed only 11 on 3-of-19 shooting. But the Pistons gave Philadelphia fits with an egalitarian offense—seven players reached double figures scoring. Wayne Ellington and Svi Mykhailiuk combined for 32 points and 7 threes. Villanova product Saddiq Bey added 10 points and hit two of his five attempts from deep. The Pistons as a whole shot 14-for-33 from downtown (42.4%).

After a mostly even first quarter, the Pistons began an 11-0 run that found them on top 39-28 just over two minutes into the second frame. It looked like Detroit was beginning to assert itself. But the Sixers hung tough and whittled the lead down to five. The Pistons built up another eleven-point lead at 47-36 before Philadelphia really began to settle down. Over the final six plus minutes of the half, the Sixers outscored the Pistons 25-16 fueled mostly by Embiid, Harris and Simmons, who contributed 21 of those points.

Curry carried the load through the first half of the third quarter, scoring six points of the Sixers first 9 points. He gave way to Embiid, who led the charge in a 17-4 run that found the Sixers on top 80-72. Mykhailiuk poured in 9 straight Detroit points as part of a 13-5 response that tied things up at 85.

That was when the Sixers bench woke up. Despite their overall forgettable performance, Dwight Howard, Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton had a stellar stretch through the opening minutes of the fourth, exploding for a 14-3 stretch. Philadelphia remained in front the rest of the way. The Pistons did slice the lead to 110-108 in the final 20 seconds, but Embiid and Simmons both hit a pair of clutch free throws to seal the game.

These two teams play again on Monday night at 7 p.m. The Sixers will be looking to win their sixth in seven games. The Pistons will likely have Griffin and Rose available.