76ers at Pistons
The Philadelphia 76ers are really beginning to miss Joel Embiid in the middle of the defense and will try to end a three-game slide when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Embiid sat out the last five games and eight of nine with a knee injury and is not expected to join the team on the trip to Detroit.
The 76ers sat fellow center Jahlil Okafor on Saturday with a knee injury - he is day-to-day - and the combination of Nerlens Noel and Richaun Holmes were no match for Hassan Whiteside in a 125-102 setback at Miami. "It started with Whiteside being incredibly dominant," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown told reporters of the Miami center, who posted 30 points and 20 rebounds. "It was clear you came into a gym where they were playing extremely good basketball. We couldn’t guard them." The Pistons have a player in the middle capable of similar dominance in Andre Drummond, though he was limited to 13 points, nine rebounds and six turnovers in a 105-84 loss at Indiana on Saturday. "I thought they dominated us," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters in his typically blunt postgame assessment. "They played very, very hard and we did not respond. We played a mediocre first half and we were in the lead, but then we were just awful in the second half."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TCN (Philadelphia), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE 76ERS (18-32): Philadelphia is not only missing Embiid but is also without starting small forward Robert Covington (hand) while shooting guard Gerald Henderson tries to battle through a hip injury. Henderson sat out Thursday's loss in San Antonio but logged 25 minutes at Miami and recorded 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting in 25 minutes. "You watch what he does at practice, you watch how he prepares, you watch how prideful he is in taking care of his body, and statistically, when you see what he’s done, his body of work, he’s having the best year of his career," Brown told reporters of Henderson, who is enjoying career bests of 46.4 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (23-28): Detroit is having trouble sustaining any forward momentum and missed out on a chance at a three-game winning streak with Saturday's setback. "I’ve been saying this all season," Pistons forward Marcus Morris told reporters. "When teams get aggressive like that, I feel like we take a step back instead of taking the challenge and getting right back with it. I just feel like we kind of get on our heels." Detroit dropped seven of its last 12 games, and Saturday's loss snapped an eight-game streak of scoring at least 100 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers rookie F Dario Saric struggled to four points on 1-of-9 shooting on Saturday to snap a string of three straight games scoring in double figures.
2. Pistons PG Reggie Jackson is averaging 8.8 points on 30.2 percent shooting in the last four contests, including 1-of-11 from 3-point range.
3. Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 97-79 win at Detroit on Dec. 11 with Embiid sitting out.