The Detroit Pistons were favored by 15 points tonight and that was nowhere near enough points for Philadelphia. With the 76ers missing their Big Three, this one was never close as Detroit rolled the 76ers in a 131-109 win.
JB Bickerstaff rolled out with the same starters (Marcus Sasser in) without Ausar Thompson and they kicked off with a 17-6 run at the halfway point of the first quarter. The Pistons offense was clicking as all three of Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, and Tobias Harris had eight points by the end of the quarter. Detroit went into the second with a 36-27 lead.
Kevin Huerter had a nice stretch early in the second with back-to-back threes from the corner. Philly was able to make a run after Jalen Duren picked up his third foul. The 76ers forced JBB to call a timeout after a 9-0 run that brought Detroit’s lead to seven. That would be as close as Philly would make it to grabbing the lead at any point the rest of the game and the Pistons would take a 69-60 lead heading into halftime. Both Robinson and Harris led the way for Detroit with 11 points each.
Jalen Duren was the spark for the offense to start the third quarter. With no Joel Embiid or Andre Drummond, Duren had a favorable matchup down low. He caught a few lobs and had some strong drives to the rim with nine points through the first half of the quarter. This was the time for Detroit to put the game out of reach and they outscored Philly 35-21 in the third quarter.
With a 104-81 lead heading into the final frame, it was smooth sailing for Detroit to finish it out. They would extend their lead up to 35 points with five minutes left before JB Bickerstaff emptied the bench in preparation for tomorrow’s back-to-back.
Seven Detroit Pistons players would finish in double-digits and Cunningham wasn’t one of them. Robinson led the way with 19 points including five threes while Javonte Green added 17 points and four threes off the bench. Both Tobias Harris and Ron Holland finished with 15 points while Duren added 14, Beef Stew had 13, and Red Velvet had 12.
Philadelphia had no answer for Detroit’s offense as the Pistons would shoot 55% from the field and 41% from three. They also added a season-high 36 assists as was evident by their multiple double-digit scorers. Detroit moves to 47-18 and is four games up over Boston. They’ll play Memphis tomorrow night on the SEGABABA.
See More:
* [Detroit Pistons Game Day](/detroit-pistons-game-day)
* [Pistons Scores](/pistons-scores-results)