By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (5-18) conclude their three-game road trip in Detroit for a match-up with the Pistons (13-12). The Sixers are coming off of their first road win in 23-games while the Pistons come into today's game winning five of their last seven.
Philadelphia will be without Joel Embiid, who stayed behind with elbow inflammation. Meanwhile, Nerlens Noel is set to make his season debut and Jahlil Okafor will return after missing three games with gastroenteritis while Sergio Rodriguez will sit due to gastroenteritis.
Last meeting:
The Sixers dropped all four games against the Pistons last season, most recently a 125-111 loss on March 12. All five Detroit starters scored 19+ points and were led by Reggie Jackson with 24 points and 10 assists. Andre Drummond contributed with 19 while also grabbing 15 rebounds. The Sixers led by five after one, but were outscored by eight in the third and 11 in the fourth. Isaiah Canaan powered the offense with 22 while Ish Smith, now with the Pistons, scored 16 points. Nerlens Noel started at center and finished with 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Noel set to debut:
After missing 23 games with groin and knee injuries, Nerlens Noel is finally going to make his season debut. He will not be under a minute restriction.
"I feel great," Noel said after practice on Saturday. "I was anticipating this, so I got my mind right and this is what I've been working for through the whole rehab process."
He came into this season very open about his thoughts of how the roster cannot work with three centers and he'll find himself in the very situation when he debuts tomorrow and especially when Joel Embiid returns. Brett Brown mentioned, that depending on matchups, we could see Okafor and Noel on the court at the same time against the Pistons on Sunday. If anything, Noel is likely to provide a defensive upgrade when Embiid is not on the court.
Return of Reggie:
Former Sixers point guard Ish Smith had been leading the Pistons offense with Reggie Jackson nursing a knee injury for the first chunk of the season. Jackson, 26, is shooting just 37.5 percent from the floor through four games, but he's still making an impact, averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 assists per game. He's coming off of a year that saw him average a career-high 18.8 points per game. Meanwhile, Ish Smith averaged 10.8 points and 6.4 assists in his absence. As a reserve he's playing about 23 minutes per game now.
Previous Game Rewind:
Sixers: Philadelphia won their first road game since January 20 on Friday night, 99-88 over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Sixers held the Pelicans to 31 points in the second half on 30 percent shooting while also leading the points off turnovers battle 17-0. Joel Embiid finished the night as a +24, despite shooting 5-for-15. He ended the game with 14 points and seven rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova led the Sixers offense with 23 points and eight rebounds. Sergio Rodriguez added 16 points and eight assists of his own, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Pistons: Detroit prevailed over Minnesota 117-90 on Friday behind 22 points and 22 rebounds from Andre Drummond. It was his second consecutive game with 20+ points and 20+ rebounds. The Pistons got out to an early lead and never looked back, outscoring the T'Wolves by eight in the third and 13 in the fourth. Jon Leuer scored 17 off the bench and Reggie Jackson finished with 16 points and four assists.
| Matchup Preview | December 11, 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia 76ers (5-18, 1-7 Away) |
Detroit Pistons (13-12, 8-3 Home) |
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Game Information:
Tip-off: 6:00 p.m.
Location: The Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream live: CSNPhilly.com, NBC Sports Live Extra
