Observations after shorthanded Sixers fall to 1st loss of season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The 2026-27 Sixers are no longer undefeated.
The team fell to its first loss Sunday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena, losing a 106-93 game to the Pistons. Detroit improved to 3-0 and the Sixers dipped to 3-1.
Tyrese Maxey was the Sixers’ top scorer with 29 points. LeBron James added 18, Jaylen Brown 16.
Pistons star Cade Cunningham had 26 points and Duncan Robinson scored 21.
On the second night of a back-to-back, the Sixers were shorthanded. Their players out included Joel Embiid (right plantar fasciitis injury management), VJ Edgecombe (abdominal contusion) and Jabari Walker (left knee soreness).
Detroit was down Jalen Duren (right hamstring strain) and Ausar Thompson (right ankle sprain).
The Sixers will next play Wednesday when they visit the Pacers. Here are observations on their defeat to Detroit:
Sixers woeful on many fronts in early going
The Sixers opted against starting a conventional center. They began the game with Maxey, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brown, James and Dean Wade. Adem Bona later subbed in at center.
Positional labels didn’t matter much for the Sixers’ defense, which appeared to start the night switching every screen. On the other end, former Sixers center Paul Reed guarded James, who operated frequently as a screener.
The Sixers’ starters had a hard time doing just about everything in their first stint. Rebounding was a glaring and predictable problem. Detroit had five offensive rebounds before the Sixers grabbed their first defensive board.
Maxey missed two early attempts in the paint and a mid-range jumper. Reed converted a put-back layup, Cunningham scored a fast-break hoop, and Sixers head coach Nick Nurse burned a timeout. His team plummeted into a 15-1 hole.
Entering the season, it was evident that the Sixers were thin at backup center without Ariel Hukporti (right Achilles tendon tear) and Dominick Barlow (lower back stress reaction). They did not have a remotely encouraging start Sunday in their first Embiid-less game of the regular season.
Slow start, foul trouble for Maxey
Maxey was whistled for his second foul with 6:09 to go in the first quarter.
That led to first-period minutes for rookie Labaron Philon Jr. He scored his first NBA points with a fast-break floater.
Anfernee Simons and Bona were the two other members of the shorthanded Sixers’ second unit. Bona fared rather well late in the first quarter. After recording six rebounds over the Sixers’ first three games, Bona matched that number in the first, played active defense and chipped in a bucket and a block. He logged 25 minutes on the night and had six points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.
Maxey checked back in to start the second quarter. He got on the scoreboard with 7:06 left in the second, although he picked up his third foul 32 seconds later.
Detroit’s defense focused on containing Maxey and had plenty of success in the first half. Daniss Jenkins guarded him tightly and the Sixers’ All-NBA guard often saw a crowd of bodies in the lane.
No comeback up Sixers’ sleeve this time
Down 21 points late in the second quarter, the Sixers stormed back into the game. They closed the quarter on a 9-0 spurt and at least gave themselves a legitimate chance in the second half.
The Sixers kept rolling to kick off the half, scoring the first five points of the third quarter. James’ fast-break lay-in cut the Pistons’ lead to 58-53 and had the home fans fired up.
Detroit did not completely collapse the way the Cavaliers had a few nights back in the Sixers’ home opener. Continued free throw misses by James and Brown also hurt the Sixers’ comeback cause a tad. The two combined to shoot 6 for 14 at the foul line.
The Sixers still maintained considerable pressure on the Pistons in the fourth quarter.
Bona slammed in a put-back dunk and then chased down an offensive rebound on the Sixers’ next possession. Maxey eventually hit a mid-range shot over Jenkins to trim the Sixers’ deficit to 79-75. He got on track in the second half and created his typical trouble for the opposing defense with world-class downhill speed.
The Pistons avoided a disastrous downslide. Credit to the Sixers for another serious, high-energy comeback push — and on the second leg of a back-to-back — but the bottom line is they paid for a poor start and tasted defeat for the first time on Sunday night.
