The best and worst of Sixers-Pistons, including Joel Embiid’s bounce-back game in 110-102 win
This marked Embiid's 24th career game with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds.
Here is my look at some of the best and worst performances from the 76ers’ 110-102 victory over the Detroit Pistons Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Best performance: Joel Embiid get this on a night when the Sixers needed his season highs of 30 points and 18 rebounds to win. This marked his 24th career game with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds. That’s the third most in the league behind the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (39) and Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis (38) since the 2016-17 season. The Sixers improved to 19-5 when Embiid scores at least 30 points.
Worst performance: Josh Jackson was a game-worst minus-18 and received a technical foul for striking Embiid on a third-quarter play. He also had as many personal fouls (three) as rebounds (three) and the same amount of assists (two) as turnovers (two) while scoring seven points on 3-for-9 shooting. It could be argued that Sixers small forward Danny Green deserved the award for being held scoreless while missing all five of his shots. However, Green played solid defense, finishing with two steals and two blocks. He also tied for a game-best plus-19.
Best defensive performance: Kelly Olynyk had two steals, a block and was a plus-17. He was an unexpecting winner. But on this night, the list of candidates were slim pickings. So Olynyk won even though Embiid scored the game-clinching three-pointer over him with 13.9 seconds left.
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Worst statistic: The Sixers couldn’t hold onto the ball. They committed 20 turnovers with four coming in the fourth quarter.
Best statistic: The Pistons’ fourth-quarter three-point shooting was on fire. They shot 7-for-11, which is good for 63.6%.