Detroit Pistons drop fourth straight, lose To Sixers 109-99

Saturday afternoon was a nightmare for the Detroit Pistons (4-4), who fell to the Philadelphia 76ers (6-4) 109-99. It’s their fourth straight loss. Blake Griffin finished with 38 points and 13 rebounds.

The Detroit Pistons hoped to end a three-game skid at Wells Fargo Arena against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday afternoon.

Instead, they left with their fourth straight loss on the season, falling to the Sixers 109-99.

From tip-off, Joel Embiid was on a mission, and once Philadelphia recognized that, things began to creep downhill for Detroit.

Pistons’ fans would like to assume that Embiid is wrong when he refers to the real estate he owns in Andre Drummond’s head. Unfortunately, Saturday’s game against the 76ers just added more fuel to the fire.

While Embiid scored 39 points on 10-of-18 shooting (with 17 rebounds and two blocks), Drummond put up just eight points and nine rebounds. It was obvious who won the one-on-one battle.

But, there might be something to Embiid’s 23 attempted free throws that adds another dimension to Drummond’s struggles.

It was pretty difficult for the Pistons, namely Drummond and Zaza Pachulia, to put a body on Embiid. The officials were calling the game pretty tight, and it resulted in more than a few trips to the line for the star center.

Accompanied with the fact that they had to guard Embiid “with their hands behind their back”, the Pistons suffered from the same, stalled offense.

There was a moment in the second quarter, when Detroit trailed 58-36, where Blake Griffin had just capitalized off a bad pass from Embiid to Simmons. The Pistons drove down the court and, instead of creating movement and facilitating the best shot, Griffin took the ball straight down the middle and crashed directly into Wilson Chandler and Embiid.

He tried a last-minute dish to Jon Leuer, but it was too little, too late. Griffin is responsible for so much of the Pistons’ offense that even in good faith, he takes too much control.

The lack of ball movement is an ongoing story for the Detroit Pistons. But Dwane Casey is dealing with a complicated situation.

He has to allow Reggie Jackson time to settle into his new role as a spot-up shooter. At least, he wants to. The schedule is not going to be kind in the process, though. He had a rough night, finishing with nine points on 2-of-11 shooting.

Stanley Johnson has struggled offensively this season as well. This continued Saturday afternoon, as he logged two points in 30 minutes went 1-of-7 from the field.

Collectively, the unit shot 16.7 percent from 3-point range. If Casey takes the ball out of Griffin’s hands, a guaranteed producer whom can he count on to pick up the slack, Drummond is normally that second option.

But tonight there were only two Pistons’ players who scored in double figures. Let that soak in.

Then there was the tale of the third quarter.

The second half started off as an entirely different game than the first.

Blake Griffin hit a corner triple 18 seconds into the period, and a foul on the inside created a possible and-one opportunity. Drummond put his head down and began bodying the likes of Dario Saric and Ben Simmons.

Detroit looked resolute in being aggressive and physical, regardless of how the game had been called. It looked to pay off with the officials as well.

The Pistons went on a 13-0 run early in the third quarter and Embiid picked up his fourth foul as the Sixers’ offense had been slowed. Then there was the bad transition defense.

At the beginning of the season, the Pistons were vocal with each other on defense. Detroit was not an elite defensive unit, but they were willing and watching.

In their second meeting against the Sixers, you could see players switch defensively and leave a man wide-open on the perimeter. Casual fan or Coach of the Year, one knows that Philadelphia has too many capable shooters to leave anyone open outside.

It’s not time to hit the panic button yet, but things are not looking good for the Detroit Pistons right now. At first, fans thought the backslide was an aberration.

If things don’t turn around soon, the high hopes Dwane Casey had for this team at the season’s start could become a distant memory.