PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday looking to sweep the series at home while also sweeping the season series against their Central Division opponents.
The Pistons are a young, rebuilding team still looking to find their way on the floor and were missing Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley III, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. They came up short when they stormed into the Wells Fargo Center, and the Sixers welcomed Joel Embiid back to the lineup.
So Philadelphia just wanted to get the job done and get out of this healthy. They did just that as they led by as many as 41 en route to an easy 147-116 victory over the Pistons at home.
“They had a bunch of guys,” coach Doc Rivers said. “They are injured, they are young, and for us I just thought we played a professional game. We came out and played the right way. We built a lead and got our guys to play some minutes which was great. It was good to see Jaden (Springer) and Paul (Reed) and all the guys play tonight. That was good for us.”
Considering the Sixers are still a team trying to get everything right for a deep playoff run, a business win like Tuesday’s is needed. The Pistons are an inferior opponent and Philadelphia did what they had to do.
“I don’t know if we would have done it earlier,” James Harden added. “So, just progress for us. We knew they were understaffed or whatever, but it’s not about them or anyone else. It’s about us, so I think we handled it as we should have. I went out, took care of my work and got ready for the next game.”
The Sixers essentially made this a game that ended in the third quarter. Harden and Joel Embiid didn’t play in the fourth and could see what their young players can do in a game situation Tuesday.
“We didn’t want to mess around,” Embiid said. “I don’t know about my teammates, but I wanted to make sure we were all together and on the same page and it was going to be a three-quarter game and not messing with the game. We did it. So we have to build on that.”
The Sixers will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
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The story originally appeared on Sixers Wire