By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Sixers have been ahead of schedule with a 12-9 start to the season, but they are not the only surprising team in the Eastern Conference. Tonight the Sixers host the Detroit Pistons who sit at fourth in the east – one spot ahead of the Sixers – with a 14-7 record. The Pistons are off the their best start since the 2007-2008 season.
The Sixers won the first meeting between the two teams by a score of 97-86. The game was significant because it was the stage for Ben Simmons's first career triple double.
Revisiting Ben Simmons's Triple Double
Ben Simmons has done nothing but remind every critic why he was taken first overall in his rookie season with an other-worldly blend of size, speed, and skill.
Simmons got the entire NBA's attention when he collected a triple double in his fourth NBA game, which happened to be against tonight's opponent.
Simmons had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the game. Now Simmons will try to follow up his first contest against the Pistons with an equally impressive output.
Simmons is averaging 18.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game, and the Pistons allow the fourth most fantasy points to point guards. That is certainly a recipe for another big night from the Sixers'star rookie.
Covington Slumping
Robert Covington is shooting an impressive 41.7 percent from three-point range this season, but that number has been drug down after Covington's has fallen into a gigantic slump.
Over Covington's last three games he has shot 28.5 percent from beyond the arc, only making four of 14 attempts from long range.
Covington was second in the NBA in three point percentage earlier in the season and his slump has seen him drop to 22nd in the entire league. While 22nd is still good, Covington's earlier form is capable of lifting the Sixers into the next tier of the NBA by giving the Sixers a reliable secondary scoring option.
Embiid vs Drummond Part II
The first time the Sixers played the Pistons Joel Embiid scored 30 points and had nine rebounds while being defended by Andre Drummond – or not defended according to Embiid.
"Defensivey, he doesn't play any defense," Embiid said of Drummond following the Sixers' victory. Embiid added that Drummond was playing Embiid physically and talking trash with the Sixers' big man, and then Embiid decided to take it to the NBA's rebounding leader.
Drummond was not ineffective on that night, with a 14 point, 14 rebound effort for the Pistons. Drummond is averaging 14.3 points and 15.2 rebounds per game, and has been waiting to prove a point to Embiid following his comment after the first meeting:
See you Dec 2nd😏
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2017
Expect Drummond to play with extra motivation, and create plenty of problems for the Sixers on Saturday night.
| Matchup Preview | December 2, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Detroit Pistons (14-7) |
Philadelphia 76ers (12-9) |
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Broadcast Information
Where: Wells Fargo Center
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch: NBCSP+
Listen: 97.5 The Fanatic
