Pistons at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are hoping to have one or more of their injured starters available when they return home to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. Both All-Star center Joel Embiid (shoulder) and shooting guard Josh Richardson (concussion) are nearing a return while point guard Ben Simmons (back) is expected to miss his eighth straight contest.
Philadelphia went 1-3 on its four-game California trip without its stars to fall to 10-24 on the road but might not need a full compliment of players at home, where it owns an NBA-best 28-2 mark as it gets set for a four-game homestand. "At this point in the season, when you see that there's fewer and fewer games, you have to handle business," 76ers center Al Horford told reporters after closing the trip with a 118-114 setback at NBA-worst Golden State on Saturday. "What's most frustrating about this one was that we were in control most of the game. It's dangerous when you kind of let a team keep hanging and hanging, we're never able to quite pull away." The Pistons are dealing with their own injury issues and are losers of four straight and 11 of 12. "We were in mud," Detroit coach Dwane Casey told reporters after a 96-84 loss at the New York Knicks on Sunday. "We were playing in mud. (Coaches) were always 'let's go, let's go - pace, pace, pace.' Good ol' back to back or whatever is an excuse, but that's part of the NBA."
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Detroit, NBCS Philadelphia
ABOUT THE PISTONS (20-45): Detroit is playing without a true point guard with Derrick Rose (ankle) sidelined, and other players are struggling to fill the gap. Shooting guard Bruce Brown got the most opportunity to handle the ball on Sunday and collected 16 points and six assists but struggled to get the rest of the offense going. "Bruce is trying," Casey told reporters. "It's not Bruce's fault. In this league, if you're not a point guard - if you're trying to be a point guard in this league, developing in this league - it's difficult. Bruce is trying to run the pick and roll. He's trying to make the right passes and it's difficult."
ABOUT THE 76ERS (38-26): Philadelphia's road woes helped drop the team into sixth place in the Eastern Conference behind No. 5 Indiana but 12 of the final 18 games are at home. The 76ers are leaning on small forward Tobias Harris to provide the scoring punch with Simmons and Embiid out and he responded by averaging 25.8 points over the last five games. Horford is stepping up as well and collected 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in Saturday's loss and is averaging 15 points, 8.8 boards and 6.2 assists over the last five contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers SG Shake Milton is averaging 20.7 points over the last six games.
2. Pistons PG Brandon Knight (hamstring) is day-to-day.
3. Philadelphia owns a five-game winning streak in the series, including a pair of victories at Detroit earlier this season.