Pistons at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers have yet to lose at home and star center Joel Embiid is feeding off the crowd. Embiid will try to follow up a strong performance in Thursday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers when the 76ers continue their homestand by hosting the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
Embiid collected a season-high 41 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in the 122-113 triumph to mark his sixth 30-point double-double in nine games and push Philadelphia to 5-0 at home. "It’s great," Embiid told reporters. "It’s Philly, these fans can be tough on you so when they show up to the games you have to play to win and you have to play for them, you have to satisfy them and that’s what we are doing." The Pistons began the season with four straight wins but followed that up with three consecutive losses, including the first two stops of the three-game trip. "It's fighting through it, bouncing back," Detroit coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "Nobody in this league is going to feel sorry for us. When we were 4-0 nobody was cheering for us and nobody is going to feel sorry for us when we lose three in a row. We're in a situation where we have each other. We have to pull together and take care of the mental mistakes we're making, and I have to make sure we're getting better shots for our guys where we can execute better offensively."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, NBCS Philadelphia
ABOUT THE PISTONS (4-3): Detroit got strong individual performances from the likes of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond on Wednesday but still fell 120-119 in overtime at the Brooklyn Nets. Griffin, who scored 50 points in a 133-132 win over the 76ers at home in overtime on Oct. 23, is trying to lead the team and is taking on added ball-handling responsibilities in addition to taking the shots with the game on the line. "He did a great job down the stretch of carrying us," Casey told reporters of Griffin. "He made some big 3's down the stretch to carry us. He's been doing that for us all year and we need him to do that. Really happy with the way he’s handling the ball, making the decisions in those situations."
ABOUT THE 76ERS (5-4): While young stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons consistently put up strong numbers, fellow high pick Markelle Fultz is just beginning to break out. Fultz displayed his broad range of skills with 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes in Thursday's win and is gaining the confidence of his teammates. "I feel like he brought us back to life," Simmons told reporters of Fultz after Thursday's win. "The way he was playing was amazing. Defensively, I think he is locked in a lot more. He is more aware just being on the floor. Certain guys have a switch where you can turn it on and just make plays for the team. I think just the way he plays, he took what they gave him and he was able to just finish and execute."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers PF Dario Saric is 5-of-26 from the floor over the last three games, including 2-of-13 from 3-point range.
2. Pistons SG Reggie Bullock (ankle) left Wednesday's game and is questionable for Saturday.
3. Detroit's Oct. 23 victory snapped a four-game losing streak in the series.