Sixers Struggle Without Embiid in Loss to Pistons

By Kevin McCormick, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Sixers and Pistons were back in action again on Monday after a down-to-the-wire matchup on Saturday. Without Joel Embiid the Sixers would fall to the Pistons by a final of 119-104 and split the mini-series.

With this loss, the Sixers are now 0-4 on the season in games when Embiid does not play.
Fatigue looked to play a factor for the Sixers in this one as they looked flat for most of the game. They would struggle on both sides of the floor without Embiid leading the charge.

Tobias Harris would do what he could to fill Embiid's shoes on the offensive side of things. He continues to play at an All-Star level for the Sixers. Harris would end the night as the team's leading scorer with 25 points, while also grabbing seven rebounds and dishing two assists.

Ben Simmons is another player who the team would look to lean on without Embiid, but foul trouble would limit his time on the floor. He would see just 21 minutes of action in the finale against Detroit. In that time he would score 11 points, grab four rebounds, and rack up four assists.

Tony Bradley would get an opportunity to play tonight with minutes opening up at center, and he would make the most of his minutes. He would end the night with 12 points and nine rebounds while shooting an efficient 5/7 from the floor. Bradley would be one of the few bright spots for the Sixers in this matchup.

Free-throw disparity has been something that the Sixers have had an advantage in this season, but that would not be the case tonight. The Pistons would almost double the attempts at the line compared to the Sixers, attempting 38 free-throws to the Sixers 20.

After a rough outing in the first meeting on Saturday, former Sixer Jerami Grant would bounce back nicely in game two. He would go on to score 25 points in the game with 10 of those points coming from the foul line.

Doc Rivers would say after the game that the team's record without Embiid is not a major point of concern this early in the season.

Looking ahead, the Sixers have arguably their biggest matchup of the season coming up on Wednesday. They will travel back home and host LeBron James and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.