Harden racked up assists rapidly Tuesday, including back-to-back dishes in the third for Embiid layups. The game wasn’t an intriguing one at all from a competitive standpoint, but Maxey at least gave the home crowd a bit of excitement early in the third quarter when he surged in for consecutive and-one layups. The Sixers’ defense was solid, but much of the Pistons’ scoring struggles in the first half could be attributed to Detroit missing open and close-range looks. While the Sixers are no stranger to surprising comebacks, the undermanned Pistons simply had no hope. Embiid, who had a wry smile as he jogged back down the floor, then pump faked and drove in for a powerful dunk. Very improbably, Noel snapped the run by sinking the third three-pointer of NBA career he’d been 2 for 13 heading into the game. That idea faded quickly as the Sixers responded with a 15-0 run that included an and-one Embiid runner against Noel. Rodney McGruder’s three cut the Pistons’ deficit to 33-29 and it seemed Detroit might have a shot at staying competitive for a while. The Sixers had a sloppy stretch with Detroit playing small ball out of necessity and committed 11 turnovers in the game’s opening 17 minutes. On a negative note, Thybulle fouled jump shooters twice Tuesday night. He blocked a Burks jumper and cut smartly off of a Harrell post-up before making a tricky layup. Tyrese Maxey soon replaced Thybulle, who made a couple of eye-catching plays in his brief first-half stint. Head coach Doc Rivers played the all-bench lineup of Shake Milton, De’Anthony Melton, Matisse Thybulle, Georges Niang and Harrell late in the first quarter, though that group didn’t stay together for long. and Furkan Korkmaz remained outside the rotation. Montrezl Harrell retained his backup center spot and Paul Reed was not in the mix after a strong performance Sunday in Detroit. The Sixers used a five-man bench in the first half. By Embiid’s standards, his 22 first-half points didn’t require anything exceptional. Former Sixer Alec Burks picked off Embiid’s pass when Detroit switched to a zone defense, but Embiid chased Burks down in the open floor and easily swatted away his ill-advised attempt at a transition hoop. Harden again wasn’t far from reaching a triple-double before halftime.Īny rustiness for Embiid wasn’t a problem vs. Harris and Harden combined to make their first 11 field goals. A little over five minutes in, his three gave the Sixers a 19-8 lead. Embiid essentially had open jumpers available whenever he wanted them. The Sixers’ starters appeared comfortable on just about every possession against Detroit. Embiid then scored a fast-break dunk thanks to Harden scanning ahead, seeing him in the frontcourt, and firing the ball to his big man. Tobias Harris still got the Sixers off to a fast start, posting the team’s first seven points on two tough jumpers inside the arc and a pull-up three-pointer. Noel stripped Embiid as he went up for a mid-range jumper, took a charge on him, and wasn’t immediately overwhelmed the way many opposing centers have been. He had a couple of positive moments early. Nerlens Noel started for the first time this season and matched up against an old friend in Embiid. How expensive are courtside NBA Finals tickets? Here's a look at the wild prices for Nuggets-Heat
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