Detroit Pistons stock exchange: Who moved up or down in Pistons 106-86 loss to Sixers
The Detroit Pistons struggled in a 106-86 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers but it provided a look at many rotational players. Here’s what we learned.
With both teams resting key players, it’s hard to worry too much about the 106-86 shellacking the Detroit Pistons took at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night. The Pistons put out a starting lineup with Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Bruce Brown, Tony Snell and Thon Maker, which is a group that is very unlikely to share the floor in the regular season.
The Pistons sat Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Markieff Morris, so this game was a chance to feature role players and try to sort out the last of the roster battles. Philadelphia was missing Ben Simmons and Al Horford, but still had a size advantage against Detroit and it showed.
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All-NBA center Joel Embiid had his way, scoring an efficient 24 points in 22 minutes, including 8-for-8 from the free throw line. This is not surprising, as Embiid dominates most everyone, so the Pistons stood little chance with their best big men on the bench.
The big story of the game for the Pistons was their abysmal shooting, which has to be a concern heading into the regular season. The Pistons shot 32.6 percent from the field, including 6-for-26 from the 3-point line (23 percent), or roughly how I would shoot in an NBA game. The only thing that kept Detroit even this close was the free throw line, where they went 18-for-21 in one of the lone offensive bright spots of the game.
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The 76ers didn’t shoot a whole lot better, especially from the 3-point line, but were able to get fat on 58 points in the paint, not surprising considering Detroit’s rotation.
It’s easy to make too much of preseason, but several of the Pistons key players have shot the ball poorly, which has been the Pistons’ Achilles heel for several seasons, and something that must keep Dwane Casey up at night.
Even in an ugly loss a couple of Pistons saw their stock rise, while two others headed in the opposite direction.