With the NBA in infinite quarantine, I am continuing my quarantine diary where I give my thoughts to a game whenever a game becomes accessible. These will become a bit more frequent now that all games have become accessible.
Friday’s edition focuses on the second game of the 2019-20 season as the Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Motor City to visit the Detroit Pistons. Both sides were dealing with injuries as the Sixers were missing Joel Embiid to an ankle injury while the Pistons were missing Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson. Let’s dive into this one.
First Quarter
- I’m interested to see how the Sixers look without Embiid after some offensive issues in the opener. They open up with Ben Simmons grabbing a Tony Snell miss and going the length of the floor for an And-1 finish. Of course, he misses the free-throw.
- Josh Richardson is such a pest in the passing lanes. His length, his athleticism, and his ability to make those reads on the defensive end are so impressive. He gets a steal and then throws a lob to Simmons for a slam. It continues the team’s big defensive start as Detroit has just two points at the 7:56 mark of the first with Philadelphia leading 13-2.
- The Pistons turn to their bench and they provide a spark. Derrick Rose looks athletic out here and former Sixer Christian Wood is making an impact and woah!! Rose rejects Matisse Thybulle’s triple!? What year is it!? He then drills a jumper and Detroit ties it at 17 thanks to a 9-0 run.
- Shake Milton getting an early run from Brett Brown. He goes inside and gets a tough finish before Al Horford scores his first bucket of the night on a topside jumper. I expected more offense through him without Embiid, but that’s not the case so far. Detroit leads it 29-28 after one thanks to Rose.
Second Quarter
- Mike Scott and Milton knock down a couple of triples, but without Embiid in the paint, the Pistons are able to get a couple of buckets inside thanks to Wood and Andre Drummond. The Sixers have Kyle O’Quinn in the game and he is struggling against the active bigs.
- 6:21 mark: Simmons picks up his third foul and Brown leaves him in. Furkan Korkmaz then turns it over which leads to a Bruce Brown layup for Detroit. Markieff Morris then makes a 3-pointer and the hospital Pistons lead the Sixers 45-38. Even without Embiid, this is a game that the Sixers should not be trailing like this.
- What exactly does Thon Maker do out there for Detroit? I get that he plays hard, but he looks so out of place out there. Like he can’t control his body or something.
- Richardson works his way into the paint for a layup, but Rose goes the length of the floor past everybody and the Pistons lead the Sixers 57-54 at halftime. Rose has 12 points at halftime.
Third Quarter
- Former Sixer Tim Frazier knocks down a triple to give Detroit a 62-54 lead before Tobias Harris answers with an open triple and Snell then knocks one down for Detroit. Then, Drummond picks up his fourth foul at the 9:49 mark. He has six points at this point. Even without Embiid, the Sixers continue to give him his troubles.
- The Sixers, once again, lose track of Morris behind the 3-point line. The deficit is now 70-57 and Brown angrily calls for time. Philadelphia responds as Simmons slams it home, Richardson gets a steal, and Harris drills a triple to pull to within 70-62. Harris has a look in his eye. For Philadelphia to win this one, they will need more from him.
- Harris continues his rampage. The former Piston drives in for a slam, he converts an And-1, he has a layup, and he drills a corner triple all consecutively. He’s up to 16 points in this third quarter scoring in a variety of ways. The Pistons still lead as Rose continues to hope in the time machine back to 2011.
- Holy crap, Scott has four triples!? How huge have those been? His contributions make this a tie game at 83 going into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
- Harris throws a pump fake to allow Fraizer to fly by, puts the ball down, and he drills another triple. He gives Philadelphia an 88-85 lead and he’s up to 29 points. Man, that’s impressive. That’s a scorer’s mentality move right there. The Sixers will need more of that going forward.
- Scott drills a fifth triple of the game at the 7:17 mark to give the Sixers a 93-91 lead. He has been huge in this game. Wasn’t he originally listed as questionable due to an ankle sprain? Sheesh.
- Milton drills a corner triple that was tightly contested. He continues to show why he has the trust of the coaching staff. Later, Horford then knocks down a 3-pointer, Simmons steals the inbounds pass, and he finds Horford again for an And-1. The Sixers lead is now at 107-97 with 3:46 left.
- Just as Harris did in the third, Horford is taking over here late in the fourth. After the And-1, he puts the ball on the floor for a slam and he then drills a backbreaking triple for a 112-102 lead. That seems like the final nail in the coffin.
- Man, Rose will not let the Pistons die. He scores seven in a row after a triple and Detroit is within 115-109. Horford misses two free throws and Drummond scores to make it a 4-point game with 18 seconds left.
- Scott seals it with free throws and Philadelphia improves to 2-0 with a 117-111 win. It was an entertaining game in downtown Detroit and a solid win for the Sixers.
Harris led Philadelphia with 29 points with 16 coming in the third quarter receiving praise from Scott while Horford had 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and the aforementioned Scott had 17 points with his five triples. Rose was terrific for Detroit with 31 points off their bench. [lawrence-related id=27876,27868,27861]