By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (6-18) won their second straight road game for the first time in nearly two years tonight over the Detroit Pistons (13-13) by a final score of 97-79. The Sixers had not won two consecutive contests away from home since December 21 & 23 in 2014 against Orlando and Miami.
Philadelphia led by 20 after one and despite Detroit making it somewhat close at the end, the Sixers were able to hold them off long enough to secure their second win in the finale of their three-game road trip. The win was Philadelphia's sixth of the year. It took until January 20 last season for the them to earn their sixth win.
The win completed the Detroit sweep for a pair of Philadelphia teams today as the Flyers earned their ninth straight win against the Red Wings in overtime at Joe Louis Arena.
The Sixers held the Pistons to 39 percent shooting while managing to hit 55.9 percent of their shots. They also had a good night at the free-throw line, making 14 of 17 from the stripe, well above their 72 percent season average coming into this one. Philadelphia out-rebounded Detroit 42-34, outscored them 48-40 in the paint and led in the assists column 24-15 as well.
Nerlens Noel made his debut but sprained his left ankle and did not play in the second half.
T.J. McConnell fell just short of a triple double in this one, finishing with 12 points (6-9FG), a career-high 10 rebounds and nine assists. He started in place of an ill Sergio Rodriguez and ran the Sixers offense with ease in his 37 minutes of playing time. Philadelphia got strong performances from four of their five starters. Robert Covington finished with a team-high 16 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 15 while Jahlil Okafor scored 14 to go along with nine boards and two blocks. Okafor looked good on both ends of the floor, out-muscling his couterpart, Andre Drummond. As mentioned briefly above, Nerlens Noel debuted and played 10 minutes and scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting.
The Pistons were led by Marcus Morris, who scored 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Andre Drummond finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds after scoring 20+ and tallying 20+ rebounds in his last two games. Former Sixer Ish Smith scored just four point off the bench in relief of Reggie Jackson, who ended the night with 10.
The Sixers got out to an early 11-4 lead thanks to four points from Jahlil Okafor and three nice assists from TJ McConnell in the first four minutes of the game. Out of the first timeout, they kept the pedal on the medal, getting out to an 18-4 lead after scoring 14 straight points since a tie at 4-4.
Nerlens Noel tallied his first bucket on a nice cut to the basket. Stauskas found him rolling to the hoop, hit him in stride and Noel finished with a slam, extending the lead to 27-10. The Sixers led by 20, 32-12, after one, holding Detroit to their lowest point total in a quarter all season. Philadelphia shot 72.8 percent (13-18fg) from the floor and forced six turnovers in the opening 12 minutes. You'd have to go back to April 2005 to find the last time that the Sixers led after one quarter.
In the second, Detroit started to show some life, but Philadelphia maintained a 19-point lead into the first timeout with just over eight minutes to play in the half. Nerlens Noel started the second quarter at center and played about eight minutes total in his first stint back, scoring six points on 2-for-3 shooting. He didn't sit for long though, as Jahlil Okafor was whistled for his second and third fouls within minutes of each other and the Sixers up 42-20. Noel hit a 15-footer just after he came off the bench, increasing his point total to eight in his debut.
Robert Covington drove to the hoop for a lay-in for his team-leading 10th point with three minutes to go in the half, extending the lead to 50-27. Philadelphia went into halftime ahead 58-35, their largest lead after two quarters since January 16, 2016, when they led Portland by 25. TJ McConnell looked more than confident as the teams' starting point man through the first half. He finished the with six points, nine assists, six rebounds, two steals and a team leading +19 in 18 minutes.
Detroit shot 41 percent in the first half and hit just one of their six shots from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Sixers shot 61.5 percent overall and 50 percent from three-point range, forced eight turnovers and also had 19 assists on their 24 made field goals.
Philadelphia opened the second half with some less than ideal news, announcing that Nerlens Noel was doubtful to return in the second half after suffering a left ankle sprain. Jahlil Okafor continued to go to work against Andre Drummond though, using his physicality to outplay the Pistons big man. With 8:20 left in the third, the Sixers still had a 23-point lead following a nice Okafor spin move in the post. At the end of three, the Pistons had cut into the Sixers lead, trailing 80-64 with one quarter to play. Detroit outscored Philadelphia by seven in the third.
In the fourth, Detroit kept chipping away, cutting the lead to 13, 87-74, past the halfway point of the quarter. They continued to push, scoring 11 unanswered points to trim the Sixers advantage to just eight, 87-79. Philadelphia would score the next five points to put their lead back up to 13 with just under three minutes to play and would go up by 17 with under a minute and a half to go. They closed it out with a 97-79 win.
Up Next:
The Sixers are off until Wednesday, when they host the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center. Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel will all be available for that match-up.
