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It’s clearly been an exciting start overall to the 2026-27 season for the Sixers, but we got our first taste of a loss for this team on Sunday. On the second night of a back-to-back, with Joel Embiid out and a host of injuries to the backup center rotation, the Sixers lost to the Pistons, 106-93.

The Sixers shot just 7-of-25 from three, made only 14 of their 23 free throw attempts, Jaylen Brown struggled (as did most of the team) and shot 5-of-20, and they gave up 15 offensive rebounds. From the lacking center rotation in Embiid’s absence to the rebounding issues, it was a look at where the Sixers could use some improvement.

On Wednesday, after getting an extra day of rest, the Sixers will be on the road with a chance to bounce back against the 2-2 Pacers.

Having Embiid back on Wednesday is huge. The already thin center depth was obvious against Detroit, and that was even with Jalen Duren out. The rest of the Sixers’ injured bigs are still included on the injury report, though. Dominick Barlow, Tacko Fall and Jabari Walker all remain out.

The Pacers are banged up themselves. Johnny Furphy (ACL surgery), T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain), Ben Sheppard (left meniscus tear), and Ivica Zubac (left ankle sprain) are all out. Zubac’s absence in particular will make life far easier for the Sixers’ smaller lineups. Andrew Nembhard (neck soreness) and newly returned star Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring soreness) are both questionable. Obi Toppin (left hand sprain) is probable.

While the Sixers’ frontcourt remains shorthanded, we’ve seen a fair dose of LeBron at the 5. Which, despite not being something he or the team want to rely on using too much, has been effective in spells. The physicality, IQ, still versatile defense when he’s locked in, and offensive skill that needs no introduction makes LeBron a unique smaller option.

Apart from getting healthier at center, rebounding has to improve, too. As Nick Nurse emphasized after Sunday’s loss, it’s not just about one position: it’s a team effort.

“All five guys got to rebound. I just look at the numbers there and the defensive rebounding, just across the board, no matter position, just aren’t good enough,” Nurse said to reporters after the game. “So, everybody’s got to chip in with a few more.”

Let’s see if they can take advantage of Zubac being out and up their rebounding on Wednesday.

The Pacers aren’t off to a bad start this year. They haven’t faced tough opponents yet and are coming off a 110-102 loss to the Bucks on Monday, but did at least take care of business with wins against the Pelicans and Nets.

First and foremost, as a basketball fan, it’s a joy to see Haliburton back. After missing all last season with an Achilles injury, he’s here to lead the Pacers again.

Considering it’s been 486 days since he last played a game, Haliburton looks like he’s barely missed a beat. He’s already putting up 21.8 points, 9.5 assists to only 2.3 turnovers, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game with an excellent true shooting percentage of 63.4. He started with a bang, dropping 23 points and 12 assists and delivering in the clutch to win Indiana’s season opener.

Maxey and VJ Edgecombe have both been playing impressive defense to open the season, and have well and truly played their part in the Sixers’ ranking fifth in defensive rating so far. Watching how they handle Haliburton (if he plays) on the ball, keep his drives in check, ideally reduce his breathing room to fire passes all over the floor, and contest his creation at the three-point line will be the key matchup to follow in this contest.

We’ll also get to watch former Sixer Kelly Oubre Jr. go up against Philly again for the first time since leaving. After doing so much for the Sixers with his high motor, rangy defense and athletic scoring, he’s stepped straight into a solid role with the Pacers, including two starts. He just hasn’t hit his usual stride on offense yet, averaging 7.5 points on only 38.7/18.8/50.0 shooting splits through his first four games in 22.5 minutes a night.

The next big matchup for the Sixers to handle in order to fully take control in this game is Pascal Siakam. With his range, speed and ability as a driver, he’ll be a good physical test for LeBron and Dean Wade. With how well the Sixers’ forwards have played defensively so far, though, and how spry Embiid has looked protecting the paint, that bodes well for them containing Siakam and ideally providing sharp interior rotations and rim protection to Haliburton, Siakam and Oubre in check enough downhill.

Apart from having Embiid’s scoring back, his size and defense will be a welcome presence against the Pacers’ bigs, led by 7-foot-1 starting center Jay Huff. Huff is a weak rebounder (averaging just 6.7 per 36 minutes for his career) which helps the Sixers, but he still can’t be overlooked as a rim protector and finisher with his size and 7-foot-5 wingspan.

Overall, there should be some fun matchups in this one, especially between LeBron vs. Siakam, and the Sixers’ guards against Haliburton, if he can play. If Philly can pair that with better rebounding and center play thanks to Embiid’s return, and ideally some hotter three-point shooting (they’re missing plenty of open looks so far, ranking 22nd as a team at 31.7 percent from three), this is a contest they should be winning. It’s a good opportunity to bounce back before heading into a tougher matchup in Friday’s rematch against the Knicks.

Game Details

When: Sunday, October 28, 7:00 pm ET
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
Watch: NBCSP/PCK-PHI, ESPN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers

For the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic, this was supposed to be their first real test.

While the Raptors previously finished fifth in the Eastern Conference standings and the Magic were stuck in play-in purgatory, only one game separated the franchises. Despite pundits refusing to give them a fighter’s chance in the first round of the playoffs, both Toronto and Orlando punched back, as fighters do.

Nearly six months after taking their respective post-season opponents the distance, they’re ready to once again scrap and claw for their place in the Eastern Conference.

Unfortunately, before the sound of the round one bell, both teams are already dinged up. The Magic are without Paolo Banchero (ankle sprain) for four to six weeks and Jalen Suggs (bone bruise) for at least two weeks.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the Raptors vs. Magic on Wednesday.

Much ado about everything

The Raptors are without Kawhi Leonard. For those outside of the Toronto (and Canadian) basketball world, it may seem like the streets are on fire. The 35-year-old superstar is expected to miss a period of weeks due to swelling in his left knee, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. In the team’s Oct. 27 update, it was mentioned that Leonard would be reevaluated in one week.

The longest stretch Leonard missed during his 2018-19 stint in Toronto was four consecutive games. Leonard also dealt with swelling in the other knee when he missed the first 34 games of the 2024-25 season with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Regardless of what happens, one thing is certain: there will be stretches without Leonard. This year’s iteration of the Raptors, like the 2019 champions, will be defined by how they perform without Leonard. It’s been widely noted that Toronto went 17-5 without Leonard in 2019, but what doesn’t go noticed enough is that the team (either strategically or by happenstance) hedged their chances against specific opponents.

Ten of the Raptors’ victories without The Klaw came against Eastern Conference opponents. That’s always a good measurement of where a team stands as playoff brackets begin to form. However, of those ten wins, nine of them came against non-playoff teams. This is important to note after the unfortunate misfire in their first game without Leonard against the Timberwolves on Oct. 25. While Toronto finished a sparkling 7-0 against the Western Conference (including three wins against playoff teams), how the Raptors fare against teams vying for the same playoff spots will obviously carry more weight.

Wins are wins and teams should take them no matter how they come, especially when playing without one of the best players in the world. The Raptors five losses without Leonard all came against Eastern Conference playoff teams, but that’s to be expected. To tip the scales back the other way, they took care of business against lineups that a team with an injured Leonard is expected to beat:

• Wizards (32-50)
• Bulls (22-60)
• Hawks (29-53)
• Pacers (48-34) – Playoff team
• Hawks (29-53)
• Wizards – (32-50)
• Heat – (39-43)
• Knicks (17-65)
• Knicks (17-65)
• Bulls (22-60)

Toronto also finished the calendar year (2018) 7-2 without Leonard. This likely helped the front office decide whether to go for it at the trade deadline.

Leonard transforms good teams into contenders, and good teams should defeat a Magic squad without two of their best players.

All together on three: One, two, three—exhale!

And to respond to the question of Real Clydes Wear Plaid in the Postgame Thread with the amazing wisdom of one OG Anunoby: Uh, it feels pretty cool. The first win for your New York Knicks as defending champions, that is. But even if Fat Joe didn’t have to keep sweatin’ through the latter stages of this particular game, it sure took a while to really feel comfortable.

When Mikal Bridges’ halfcourt prayer to end the first quarter didn’t draw any iron, nothing felt cool. Paul Reed had just finished his shooting motion from hell on the other end and scored Detroit’s 38th point with a triple, putting the Pistons up by 13 on their orange and blue counterparts. An eternal optimist might have seen the Knicks returning to their winning ways at that point since they had actually given up 40 in the final frame to Orlando on Sunday. Baby steps and all in the right direction, I guess.

Seriously, though, the Knicks were hanging on by a thread to start the second quarter, especially since they couldn’t buy a basket for the first two minutes of the period. Fortunately, Detroit didn’t manage to capitalize even though they had numerous open threes during that stretch. If they had made a shot or two here and blown the lead up close to 20? Let’s not think about it, especially since the actual reality that followed was so much nicer.

Karl-Anthony Towns leads the way for Knicks

For the first time this season, it felt like the Knicks really found a consistent rhythm on both ends of the court. It started with the defense that completely shut down any idea the Pistons had of scoring points, limiting the bad shooting boys from the Motor City to a 3-for-21 clip in the quarter. The offense took a little longer, but opportunism reigned supreme here. Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond had some nice putbacks, the Knicks finally hit some threes, and Jalen Brunson drew a bunch of fouls after almost looking like Jordan Clarkson in a Utah blowout early on.

The real fun started after halftime. Supposedly, Mike Brown challenged Karl-Anthony Towns in the locker room, reminding him that a scrappy, hard-working soul named “Bball Paul” shouldn’t be a match for him. “Got it, coach,” said the newlywed, and then went to work on the entire Pistons team. 27 and 20 is serious business; we can even give him a pass for the 7 (turnovers) and 5 (fouls) this time around. It speaks to the growth of Towns that he responded to extremely physical play with some haymakers of his own. I’ll let you decide if he or the hero called Bballman looked more composed in the end. Just kidding, Paulie!

Apparently, it wasn’t only KAT, though, who took the coach’s words to heart. The entire team came out firing after the intermission. The pace was good, the Bockers got out running, and they really defended the high pick-and-roll better—shoutout to Mikal Bridges here. In the first, Pistons star Cade Cunningham spent more time in the Knicks’ paint than anywhere else on the court, but New York put an end to that. They themselves moved the ball inside, swung it back out, and all of a sudden everything looked easy.

Knicks find themselves again versus Detroit

Open shots lead to open minds; play looked free, inspired. Brunson woke up; KAT was downright dominant on both ends of the court, and OG, Mikal, and Hart were flying around. The reserves also did their part after looking very reserved against the Magic. Landry Shamet couldn’t buy a basket at the rim yet cashed in on 3 of 5 from downtown. More importantly, though, he brought relentless energy fighting over screens and throwing his body around like he doesn’t need it anymore. Andre Drummond was good Andre Drummond again, didn’t try to channel his inner Hakeem Olajuwon, and made his gigantic presence felt inside on both ends. Even “Pee Wee” Kolek got in on the act a few times.

Let’s ignore the sloppy finish to the fourth that made a laugher a little less funny or JB Bickerstaff bickering about physicality for the sake of the good vibes. The New York Knicks are back, baby, and it feels tremendous even if they were never really gone. Deep in our hearts, we all knew they had this very type of performance in them and that if they are playing at their best, not many teams in the NBA can hang with them. That doesn’t mean that they can or should punt the entire regular season—far from it. They can’t sleepwalk through the year and just show up for the final act. There’d be a good chance they would’ve forgotten their lines by then. In the end, you still have to win some games—and quite a few of them. Tuesday night was a good start.

A really cool start, actually.

Yesterday morning, the bombshell dropped that Kawhi Leonard would be missing his first stint of games this season, with twin reports coming directly from the Raptors, and ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Charania posted this morning that Leonard would not be playing for “a period of weeks due to swelling in his left knee” despite “no structural damage.” The Raptors, almost simultaneously, released notice that reevaluation of Leonard would take place within a week, but that there was “no acute injury,” rather, just swelling.

Leonard swiftly came out with his own statement, posting on socials about the circumstances, thanking Raptors fans for their support and committing to a speedy return.

First of all, seeing Kawhi sign his messages as “Whi” is very cool, and is a nickname for himself that is certainly overshadowed by his “Klaw” monicker. But, more importantly, Leonard being this active on social media on his personal accounts is a new development that has arisen since he began the process of rejoining the Raptors earlier this year.

There seems to be an effort at transparency from both Leonard and the organization, that especially from the latter, is particularly appreciated. Much has been said about Kawhi’s famous aloofness appearing diminished as his second stint on the Raps begins, and this statement today, addressing fans directly in tandem with Raptors reports, is a breath of fresh air from the superstar.

In Leonard’s absence, there are signs of what the Raptors might look like. RJ Barrett predicted more time with the ball in his hands, suggesting that his role as an offensive creator will become even more important with Leonard out. Barrett produces a great deal of gravity on his downhill drives, which would perfectly compliment the return of an outside shooter like Ja’Kobe Walter to the starting lineup.

Walter was fantastic in his first outing as a starter, scoring 22 points and nabbing two steals in a loss against Minnesota, and it will be likely that Walter settles into this role for the upcoming stint of games. While Collin Murray-Boyles has contributed in a more public manner to the Raptors’ success over the past two years, starting him at small forward in place of Leonard would tank the Raptors’ spacing further, on a team that already struggles with range.

Whether or not the Raptors are able to rally in Leonard’s absence will be a prime indicator of how well the rest of the season will go, with Leonard all but certain to have other instances where his at-times shaky availability will force the team to run modified units. The next few games against the shorthanded Orlando Magic will be a prime opportunity for the Raptors to field modified lineups and see what might work against a team that is also operating without its primary offensive piece.

Leonard will hopefully be back soon enough that any experimentation comes in the form of a temporary patch rather than a long-term fix, but with his public approach to handling his load management, it seems that fans will be well informed about any decisions that arise.

Former Blue Devil and current Chief Basketball Officer for Duke Basketball Jayson Tatum has had an interesting time of it lately.

Boston shockingly traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, a move that some people seem to hold Tatum responsible for.

And when he recently spoke out on this, saying that he had no role in the trade, that he was “just as much caught off guard as the rest of the world,” and that “I don’t have any animosity or beef or ill will towards him,” Brown had a few things to say about it.

First, he posted a blue cap, suggesting that Tatum was not telling the truth. Then he said this: “We’ve accomplished some great things. He’s a hell of a basketball player. He’s got a great PR team. There’s no beef but it might be a little lamb chops and some gravy. He should stay ready at all times.”

“That’s what it is. No beef. It should never, ever be that. It’s just basketball. We both blessed. But it might be a little lamb chop. We’ll be alright.”

Whatever the truth is, it’s bound to be a distraction. However, it didn’t matter much Tuesday night.

Boston was down to Brooklyn 124-123 with 2.3 seconds left. Derrick White got the ball into Tatum, who spun to his right. Three Nets had a reasonable chance of stopping him: former Louisville star Mikel Brown, Noah Clowney, and Keon Ellis. He shook them all off, though Ellis made a valiant attempt to get back into the play.

But he was too late: Tatum got a shot off as Ellis tried to catch him from behind. He didn’t get there late by much, but he did get there too late, and Tatum’s shot became the game-winner.

Pretty nice outcome for the guy who is now the undisputed face of his team.

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