PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers came up just short as they fell to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night 111-108 despite 33 points and seven assists from Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers were unable to bottle up Pistons star Cade Cunningham after halftime and they were unable to execute on the final possession as they have now lost three of their last four games.
Andre Drummond had 17 points and 12 rebounds, Jabari Walker had 12 points and five rebounds, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 13 points, and Quentin Grimes added 13 off the bench. VJ Edgecombe had 11 points to chip in.
Here are the three biggest takeaways following the loss:
3rd quarter problems…again
The Sixers did start the third on a good note on Sunday as they built the lead up to double digits, but the Pistons kept chipping away as Cunningham–after a quiet first half of only two points–erupted for 17 in the third, Duncan Robinson knocked down some 3s, and the Sixers had issues with Jalen Duren in the paint. All in all, Detroit ended up winning the third 34-21 as the Sixers continued to struggle in that part of the game.
“We actually started the third quarter pretty good,” Maxey said. “Went on a couple runs, made them call a timeout, and then it just went downhill from there. It just seems sometimes, we can’t get a rhythm in the third quarter and we gotta do a better job of that.”
Walker giving a good lift
The Sixers needed somebody off the bench to give them a boost and Walker was able to give it in this one. He wasn’t able to do much after halftime, but the fact that he was finally able to get going a bit is a fantastic sign. The Sixers needed a night like this one from him in order to give him confidence as he works his way back into things on the offensive end of the floor.
“It was good,” coach Nick Nurse said of Walker. “I think he’s a good shooter. It’s about time. He had a couple of them go in and out, right? But it was nice to kinda give him an extended stretch on a back-to-back. I think we were searching a little bit for rotations and getting guys off the floor early. Even threw Eric (Gordon) in there to just buy some minutes and I kinda wanted to keep Jared (McCain) to come back with Tyrese together just to help him out and his comfortability out there. Again, I thought those guys bought some minutes for us and that’s what you’re trying to do on a back-to-back sometimes.”
McCain continuing to work his way back
The Sixers saw McCain get back on the floor for just the second time since tearing his meniscus in his left knee as well as tearing his UCL in his right thumb before camp. He played nine minutes and went scoreless while missing all three of his shot attempts, but the good thing is, the second-year guard was able to get back on the floor and give Philadelphia something as he works his way back. Once he finds his rhythm again, he is going to be a big help to this offense and give them another shooter and ball-handler.
“I think he’s got some work to do,” Nurse said. “I think that for sure he’s just trying to figure out where he fits in right now. Again, this would be the second time I thought his second half conditioning-wise looked a bit challenging as well for him so we’ll just keep at it.”
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 3 biggest takeaways for Sixers following close loss to Pistons
