76ers get rare win, avenge earlier home loss to Pistons
Tyrese Maxey had 28 points and six assists as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers rolled past the Detroit Pistons 111-96 on Saturday night.
KJ Martin supplied 19 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, while Ricky Council IV had 17 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 14 points and six rebounds.
Paul George, who had missed the Sixers’ previous three games with a left knee bone bruise, chipped in 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Both teams were without their top players. Sixers center Joel Embiid missed for the fourth consecutive game due to left knee injury management and personal reasons. Pistons top scorer Cade Cunningham sat out the second game of a back-to-back after missing three of the previous four games due to a hip injury.
Detroit blew out host Indiana 130-106 on Friday.
Embiid’s replacement, Andre Drummond, departed in the first quarter after injuring his ankle.
The Sixers avenged a 105-95 home loss to Detroit earlier in the season. Philadelphia, which had lost seven of its last eight, collected just its fourth victory of the season.
Malik Beasley led the Pistons with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Jaden Ivey tossed in 15 points. Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore Jr. added 12 and 11 points off the bench, respectively.
Philadelphia shot 56 percent in the first quarter and raced to a 37-20 lead. Detroit perked up in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 57-52 by halftime. Beasley led the charge with 14 points in the half and Ivey had 12.
Council led the Sixers with 13 points.
The Sixers quickly restored a double-digit dominance early in the second half. Maxey scored 10 points in the first three minutes and KJ Martin made it 69-55 with a putback dunk, prompting a Pistons timeout.
Back-to-back dunks by Martin and Guerschon Yabusele made it 77-60. A basket by Oubre with 3:52 remaining in the quarter stretched Philadelphia’s lead to 20 points. The lead was still 20 at 89-69 when the quarter ended.
Detroit never threatened in the fourth.
