3 observations after Sixers slip to 1-3 with loss to Pistons – NBC Sports Philadelphia

The home crowd rejoiced when Harris missed two long-range shots in quick succession on Detroit's final possession of the first quarter. The same goes for a step-back jumper from Maxey over Harris in the second period.

Several of Harris' leaners and floaters didn't recover generously in the first half on Wednesday night. He scored a couple inside balls in the third quarter and had a nice second half. He finished the night with 18 points on 8-for-18 shooting and 14 rebounds.

Sixers are in a serious hole

The Sixers' offense in the first quarter revolved primarily around Maxey-Andre Drummond pick-and-rolls.

Maxey was effective, subtly varying his timing and converting difficult shots, including a three-pointer and a great ball shot. He followed up his 45-point performance Sunday against the Pacers with a 10-point effort in the first quarter.

Nurse replaced Maxey a little earlier than usual, removing him with 3:12 left in the first period. While the Sixers did well to close out the first quarter, they were miserable to start the second quarter. Rookie Ron Holland II's quick layup capped a 15-0 Pistons run that gave Detroit a 37-28 lead.

One of the Sixers' biggest problems was their lack of options to stop the run. Without Embiid and George, every opponent knows that the Sixers are short on players who can make their own shots. The Sixers' jumpers were all cold in the second quarter. The team started 4 for 16 from three-point range.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Sixers rank 25th in the NBA in three-point frequency and last in three-point accuracy outside of garbage time (28.6 percent).

“I thought we got some great looks from three early in the game,” Nurse said, “and, for whatever reason … there were a couple possessions where I thought, 'This one could have been shot should have been shot, this one should have been shot.'“ shot, and this one should have been shot.' And suddenly none of them got shot and then we were stuck at the end of the shot clock – not very good.

“So when we create those catch-and-shoots, we have to pull the trigger. I think we were hesitant about a lot of things.”

As the Sixers' misses piled up, Detroit also seemed to be chasing most of the winning balls. The Pistons grabbed three offensive rebounds on a single possession in the second quarter and seemed to grow confident that they could beat this version of the Sixers.

Pistons close the door easily

The Sixers trailed by 21 points when Malik Beasley hit a second-chance three-pointer.

Almost everything in the Sixers' half-court offense fell on Maxey's shoulders. The Sixers barely had a secondary offense to speak of. Nurse tried unconventional lineups and used zone defense late in the third quarter, but the Pistons kept scoring and the Sixers couldn't keep up.

“We didn’t do a good enough job of waiting, adjusting and separating on Tyrese’s screen-and-rolls,” Nurse said. “He just didn’t get enough distance on these things to gain an advantage. He managed a good number of shots downhill. And what did he have, 10 cracks with the three? A few of them were pretty tough, but I think most of the others we want him to endure.

“But he scored enough tonight, right? We need some other people. We need some production from Eric (Gordon), Kyle (Lowry) and Drum. Everyone has to help now.”

Detroit's early-season problems in the fourth quarter resurfaced early in the final period on Wednesday night. Starting big Jalen Duren was fouled early in the fourth and the Sixers found some juice. Jared McCain, Maxey and KJ Martin also scored inside during a 9-0 run by the Sixers that cut the Pistons' lead to 87-77.

The Pistons, however, avoided any real tremors. They soon had a lead of 20 points again and their first victory firmly secured.

“There are a lot of different reasons why we lost,” Maxey said. “I think in the Raptors game, honestly, we didn’t play hard enough. We just didn't play hard enough or play well enough. And in the Milwaukee game, they made some shots, we messed up some coverages. Tonight they outdid us. … They outrebounded us, they outran us and got to where they wanted to go.”

In Maxey's words, “the margin for error is slim to none” when Embiid and George are out.

“We can’t have empty possessions,” he said. “We can’t have games where we don’t know what we’re doing. If these two guys are out, we can't have any more mistakes in defense. That's the nature of things, that's their life. … We have to be better prepared than the other team.

“We have to know what we are executing, when we are executing it and we have to know the scouting report. We must know what we are going to do and we must execute that plan. Whatever the coaches tell us, we have to implement it.”