Cade Cunningham used a strong second half to lead the Pistons to a comeback win over the Pistons. Sixerswith Philadelphia losing 111–108 in the second half of back-to-back weekends. Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 33 points, but missed and tied the game on a broken final possession due to a Nick Nurse timeout.
This is what I saw.
Role Player Night
When you ask your young stars to play more minutes per night than anyone in the NBA, you sometimes need role players to step up and carry you through the dead of night. The second night in a row certainly qualifies because after Tyrese Maxey played 43 minutes to give the Sixers a win over Toronto, he needed some help in the follow-up.
Jabari Walker had the highest hopes of Philadelphia's two-way acquisitions this offseason, but he was largely disappointed in his minutes in the season opener, failing to make a big impact from three and making little impact on defense. He eventually found his niche against Detroit, converting a corner three to open his downtown account for the season, and it gave him the confidence to take the field. many The third transition on the right wing is more difficult. By halftime, Walker had 12 points and five rebounds, leading Philadelphia in scoring for most of the half.
But it was his dirty work that earned Walker several starting nods early in the year, and that continued against a tough Pistons team that baffled the Sixers early in the game. He grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first half and scored several quick baskets on second-chance possessions to avoid questionable defensive decisions and shot attempts. It never looked all that pretty, but Walker's evening was spectacular.
Honestly, I shouldn't have waited so long to talk about their launch center. Andre Drummond got the start on Sunday and deservedly so given Adem Bona's poor performance earlier in the year and he gives far more than anyone could have hoped for after last year's season of disaster. This looks like the version of Drummond the Sixers hoped to get when they brought him back to serve as both an elite backup to Joel Embiid and a reliable replacement in the starting lineup. If this is the guy they see all year round
I don't think I can believe Drummond's huge game these days, at least not in that clip of him knocking down jumpers. The work was clearly done, and Drummond walks into these shots with confidence, so I give him absolute credit. But here's the point: The occasional three only adds extra value to the pressure he puts on teams at both rims. The Pistons committed several fouls by getting on Drummond's back for loose balls, and he did his job at the charity stripe to avoid it being a gainful decision.
Drummond also had to contend with Cade Cunningham, Detroit's true star guard and undisputed leader. The Sixers played high and hedged against Cunningham by knocking the ball out of his hands early in the possession, and Drummond did a great job showing length at the point of attack before driving back to the rim. He's always had active hands, at least, but improved conditioning has allowed him to play much more around the rim and navigate the cat-and-mouse game better than he's done in at least a couple of years.
(Unfortunately, Cunningham gained some momentum in the third quarter and never looked back, finishing that game in extremely impressive fashion. It had nothing to do with Drummond's contribution.
But even Bona had some good moments in this game, blocking three shots and playing more disciplined defense than we're used to seeing from him. Overall this was a very good supporting performance.
Tough night for the security guard
Detroit still picked up some wins in this game, playing Maxey better through 2.5 quarters than any other team to date. Between Ron Holland and Osar Thompson, the Pistons have a pair of long, menacing athletes who can switch between top assignments on the perimeter, and they did a good job of preventing Maxey from getting the ball early in the possession and forcing him out when he was eventually able to come back and get it. They are a tough defensive team, top three in the league, and you felt it.
It was even more frustrating for Edgecombe, whose filming failures had begun to pile up over the past week or so. This has been noted in most recent reviews, but teams are forcing him to speed up and forcing Edgecomb into awkward shooting attempts inside the arc. The lack of balance in his mid-range attempts is really glaring, with Edgecombe leaning and fading a lot, which has led to inconsistent (read: poor) recent results.
Edgecomb's play against pressing defenses was one of the problems in his collegiate record—at Baylor, he turned the ball over more than some of his contemporaries against traps and hard doubles. While he has shown the first sketches of future plans to deal with ball pressure by trying to play behind the back in an attempt to split defences, they have not yet fully materialized. There are a lot of rookie mistakes in his game, from dribbling the ball off his own foot to misdirected cross-over passes, and he has to try to re-center to keep it from turning into a real slump.
(As for Edgecomb, he probably gets paid less for fouls near the basket than any player in the league right now. He'll either have to learn to foul someone with more intent to prevent the shot, or move his hands back altogether. He's giving away too many free throws for no gain at the moment.
Compared to Edgecomb, Maxey has many more ways to recover from a rough start on offense than his rookie counterpart. Detroit lived in fear of its catch-and-shoot ability even in the midst of a slow start, and it was able to use that on some strong running backs in the third quarter, slowly driving itself into what looked like it could be the finishing blow. The Pistons have done well to keep him from the lightning-fast scoring attacks that helped him start the year, and generally prevented the Sixers from regularly applying downhill pressure. When defenders managed to overcome the initial pressure, they almost always saw a second man waiting behind their defender, directing shot attempts toward the Sixers' less dangerous threats.
However, Tyrese Maxey came late in the game, hitting huge threes to keep Philly within striking distance and streaking down the court in transition for crucial free throws. It was a good fight from the young Sixers, but ultimately it wasn't enough.
#McCainWatch
Eric Gordon checked into Sunday night's game ahead of Jared McCain after McCain had a DNP in Saturday's game against the Toronto Raptors. I wouldn't call it panic time after this weekend, but McCain shareholders must be at least a little nervous.
It would be one thing if Nurse decided to expand the rest of their rotation options and play just the Maxey/Grimes/Edgecomb trio in the backcourt. Between Oubre, Justin Edwards, Watford and Jabari Walker, Nick Nurse could make an argument for positional size against a Detroit team that was murder them on the glass and run at the beginning of the game. But that argument went out the window when Gordon checked into the three-guard game without doing anything significant in his six first-half minutes.
McCain is still finding his feet on offense, getting used to wearing a large, bulky knee pad that he described in a recent practice as essentially dragging his other leg. After making a nice move to the basket in the second quarter, Jalen Duren sent his layup attempt into the second row, reminding McCain that the speed of the game is a little faster than the speed of practice. But I was Very encouraged by McCain's activity in defense, where his vitality will be crucial if he hopes to get minutes alongside Maxey and Edgecombe. He intercepted Duren's blindside brace, saved a couple more loose balls and had good positional sense throughout the minutes, which is all you can really ask for in his second game back from injury.
Once his minutes limit isn't as severe, perhaps concerns about his spot in the rotation will go away. For now, we are monitoring further developments.
Other notes
— Horrible final possession for the Sixers. Zero situational awareness for a team that took 16 seconds to make one shot in a three-point game. No matter how bad it is.
— This game probably highlights how much Philadelphia's victory depended on Kelly Oubre.
He continued his outstanding play in the first half with a strong start against Detroit. Andre Drummond sent the ball into the frontcourt on the first kick, and Oubre ran to it and scored the first goal of the game, converting his first two points to break the game open. After that, he did what he has done in virtually every game this season, offering an off-the-dribble threat from the wing that has become more and more valuable deep in the shot clock. As several Pistons players struggled with foul trouble in the first half, Oubre did well to pressure Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson off the bounce, and he moved well as a cutter for a cheap one or two, although his play slowed after the break.
It was more of an adventure in the second half, with Oubre struggling to make threes and otherwise unable to contribute much offensively.
“For the love of God, guys, please stop fighting each other on defensive rebounds.”
