By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
The Sixers lost by a score of 136-106 against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
Following a game the previous night against the New York Knicks, the Sixers only had nine players available against a Detroit team that had not played since Wednesday. Gerald Henderson missed his second straight game, Jahlil Okafor was a late scratch due to right knee soreness and Richaun Holmes was playing with right hamstring tightness, leaving the Sixers shorthanded against Andre Drummond and the Pistons.
The Pistons trailed throughout most of the first quarter before the Sixers lack of depth began to bite them. Once Dario Saric and Richaun Holmes took their first break of the game the Pistons went on a 9-0 run and finished the first quarter with a 33-25 lead.
Andre Drummond had his way with the Sixers on the glass, recording seven rebounds, with three coming on the offensive end in the first quarter. Drummond finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds after exiting the game early due to the lopsided score.
Dario Saric reentered the game to start the second quarter and led the Sixers back into the game, tallying four assists to go with 10 points and five rebounds in the first half.
After trading buckets with the Pistons for a stretch of the quarter, Detroit pulled away again to close the quarter, going into the half with a 15 point lead.
Former 76er Ish Smith scored nine points to go with eight rebounds in the first half and finished with 11 points and 13 assists in his first visit back to Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers came out flat in the second half, giving up a number of open looks to start the second half that forced Brett Brown into calling a timeout in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The timeout did little to spark the Sixers, as the Pistons continued to dominate throughout the quarter. The Pistons average 101.5 points per game, and they had scored 106 by the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the Pistons rest their starters, and cruise to a blowout victory.
The Pistons had four players score 20 or more points, led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's 26. As a team, the Pistons out-rebounded the Sixers 44-36, including 10 offensive rebounds.
Nik Stauskas scored a career high with 24 points, leading the Sixers. T.J. McConnell, Sergio Rodriguez, Richaun Holmes, and Dario Saric also reached double figures.
Richaun Holmes, who was playing with hamstring tightness, exited the game in the fourth quarter permanently after leaving temporarily in the second quarter, leaving the Sixers with only eight available players and Justin Harper as the only center in his second day as a member of the team.
The Sixers play next on Monday night when they host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
