Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be hosting the Philadelphia 76ers at the LCA. The Pistons are on one night of rest after getting obliterated by the Bucks, the Sixers are on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Bulls. This will also be the 3rd game in 4 nights for the Sixers.
The Them:
The Sixers are still going through the entire Ben Simmons saga, but they are doing just fine despite his absence, now at 6-2 they still sit towards the top end of the Eastern Conference.
They are led by Joel Embiid, who is averaging 21/9/4 per game, on just okay efficiency. Not the sort of dominance that Embiid has typically displayed over past seasons but he is likely just working his way into the season. Tobias Harris takes the mantle of 2nd banana with Simmons out and he’s going just fine. 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists per game on high efficiency, but he is currently in the health and safety protocol so the Pistons don’t need to worry about him.
With Simmons still doing whatever the hell that whole situation is, and Tobias out, its basically Joel Embiid and his merry men. Seth Curry is picking up the slack by scoring 17 per game on an absurd TS% of 76%(!!!). Tyrese Maxey is filling in as well as anyone could’ve hoped at 15 points per game on solid efficiency even if he tends to go up and down even within the same game. Matisse Thybulle is the best defender in the world. Georges Niang is a 6’7 shooty type. Shake Milton is a heat check guy but his three-ball hasn’t been falling. Furkan Korkmaz can shoot. Andre Drummond is putting up his usual absurd numbers just in less minutes as Embiid’s backup.
It’s a strange version of the Sixers that arrives in Detroit. But as long as Emiid is rolling this team is still very dangerous, as the Pistons just learned, a diminished team that still has their top-10 level player is still better than they are. On the other hand, the potential lack of guys available for Philly does leave open the door for the Pistons to get a feel-good bounce-back win.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Embiid: Same story as last time out. With the team so depleted, the Pistons will have the full possibility to load up against Embiid to try and slow him down. Not sure the Pistons have any person who can do this though.
Pistons vs. Hitting some damn shots: The Pistons are shooting an unfathomable 27% from deep and 39% from the field. This will not continue all season. Even if the huge breakout game where they hit 20 threes doesn’t come, they will start to put the ball in the hoop at normal levels.
Cade Cunningham vs. Finding his footing (literally): I fully believe that his struggles out of the gate are largely due to having a bad wheel. While I would say that if it’s that bad he should maybe not be playing yet, you really don’t want this to spiral into a confidence issue. Even if it isn’t a big game statistically, important for him to leave the game with some positive vibes. OTOH he may get Thybulle sicced on him soooo
Saddiq Bey vs. Being hesitant: Would’ve never guessed this would be an issue but I wasn’t the only one to notice it last time out. Bey outright passed up several open threes. He can’t do that, I have no clue what the deal was, but he needs to shoot the ball when he’s open.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
Embiid is putting every Pistons defender into the front row.
Andre Drummond revenge game.
Cade Cunningham is still able to be statistically compared to Anthony Bennett.
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Cade breaks out.
Andre Drummond attempts revenge and actually just screws everything up.
The Pistons finally start hitting shots.
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
The Pistons shoot 50% from deep (plz)
Embiid does whatever he wants.
Cade looks much more comfortable.
Pistons ride a hot shooting night to a comfortable victory.
Pistons 105 - Sixers 90.
What do you think? Can the Pistons start hitting shots? Can Cade come out strong? Andre revenge game???