After a hot start to the Ish Smith era (part 2), the Sixers have gone 1-10 in their last 11 games. There's been a lot of bad basketball going around recently, unfortunately familiar to Sixer fans. Tonight's 111-91 loss to Detroit was no exception. Bad defense plagued the team from the start, going down 20-8 in the opening minutes and never even making the game interesting. While there were a few highlight plays, they were meaningless to the outcome of the game.
After losing the tip, the Sixers showed plenty of life. Robert Covington almost had a steal in a first 10 seconds and on the first possession Jahlil Okafor did this:
Throw em up big fella https://t.co/n84Dx9vwTF
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) February 25, 2016
A bailout pass from Nik Stauskas turned into a shot clock beating, banked three pointer from Okafor. However that was essentially the high point of the first quarter, with the Pistons going on a 13-3 run to really put the game out of reach. Although the game was out of reach, that didn't stop Robert Covington from going for every point he could, hitting a 3/4 court shot to end the quarter and gather some momentum.
The second quarter started off well, with the offense clicking much better. Nerlens Noel had his obligatory highlight by blocking Aron Baynes' shot twice in as many seconds.
.@NerlensNoel3 not once, but twice. ✌️ (CSN) https://t.co/hueroOC9NZ
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) February 25, 2016
However the second quarter turned out just like the first, with the Pistons increasing their lead to 23 to lead 65-42 at the half.
The third quarter was disappointing for both teams, the Sixers failing to whittle down the lead and the Pistons not keeping up with their previous offensive output. After going 7-7 and 17 points in the first half, Tobias Harris actually missed a few shots in the quarter for his eventual game high 22 points.
The fourth quarter was essentially forgettable, with the game out of reach the Sixers played hard as they always do, but extremely sloppy and out of control. Coach Brett Brown took Noel and Okafor out for good before the fourth quarter.
The Sixers have had a stretch of games where their defense has let them down, and this one continued the trend.
Stat Notes:
- Richaun Holmes had a team leading +10, though almost entirely in garbage time
- Kendall Marshall had his first significant minutes in recent games during TJ McConnell's injury, scoring 12 points and dropping 4 assists.
- Pistons' center Andre Drummond, league leader in rebounds, collected 18 in 27 minutes
The Sixers return home Friday to face the Washington Wizards at 7pm.
