Putrid first half dooms Sixers in loss to Pistons without Cade Cunningham

An abominable defensive effort in the first half doomed the Sixers in a disgraceful loss to the Detroit Pistons sans Cade Cunningham.

Here's what I saw.

Likes

- I've warned about this recently, but I was interested to see who would set the tone early in games once Joel Embiid returned - and whether it would continue to be Tyrese Maxey. It's long been documented how Maxey has seized control of this team, setting the tone on a night-to-night basis. So, if Embiid and George got off to slow starts, it would look as though they weren't following the leader, per se.

That was precisely what happened in this game, Maxey setting the tone early and, by comparison, no one else really following the top dog. The only reason this is in the 'Likes' section is that it was good to see Maxey not change anything about his approach just because Embiid and Paul George were available. He attacked without deferring, staying engaged while everyone else was off to a flat start.

- Good on Nick Nurse to reward Adem Bona for the way he's played by giving him the first minutes at backup center even with Andre Drummond available to play. Drummond has not been close to good enough to automatically resume those minutes upon returning from his toe injury.

- Promising debut for Quentin Grimes. You can see the juice as a shooter, locking into his motion before the ball even arrives in his hands. He knocked one down off the dribble, too. He showed his youth and athleticism on the floor, Grimes attacking closeouts with zip and getting to the basket for some difficult finishes. 

Dislikes

- Philadelphia's effort was abhorrent from the jump. I'll start off with Embiid, who was not aggressive around the rim at all and wasteful with his fouls. He committed two cheapies early in the game, and that seemingly zapped him of all desire to command the rim on defense. He was far too passive on offense, seemingly unaware that his team was trailing significantly and in desperate need of someone to play with force to rally the troops. He went through the motions, finding teammates on the move with uninspired passes.

While I'll never quite trust a Scott Foster officiating crew to do a good job, the Sixers have to look in the mirror for some silly ass fouls in the first quarter. Maxey, in particular, committed a totally unnecessary one, whacking Malik Beasley on the back of the head as he tried to contest a floater. He, Embiid and George combined for five fouls in the first quarter.

- Embiid will show up the most in the film, so he'll wear a lot of the ugliness of the team's defense. But, this was the second game in a row that the Sixers got smacked over the head by opponent three-point shooting. 

A lot of the issues came in transition, the Pistons getting open corner and wing threes all first half. It was a team-wide problem. For example, Kyle Lowry was too busy approaching an official as Detroit ran back on offense to get back, leading to an open three in the corner.

You might feel compelled to blame Embiid for being late on the closeout. But, in reality, he should be the one booking it back to the rim, not trying to chase shooters in the corner. No one did their jobs in the first half. The urgency was nowhere to be found.

- I did not think Embiid had all that much burst out of his left leg in this game. He had difficulty holding down the glass and did not make many powerful moves toward the basket. He had an excellent third quarter, warming up with midrange jumpers before making a killing at the foul line. But, there was not much power in the paint.

- Here were some of the shenanigans that were emblematic of the whole game:

• Embiid deflected a shot at the rim that popped up and Kelly Oubre Jr. did not know where it went. The lack of awareness allowed Detroit to recover the ball out of the air and score at the hoop.
• Eric Gordon threw a pass behind Grimes in transition, blowing out an opportunity for an easy score.
• Gordon reached in on a driving Jalen Duren when the big man was already around him and fouled him on a dunk.
• Embiid blocked Paul Reed at the rim and went down in a heap under the basket. Reed recovered the offensive rebound and charged in for a second chance, and no one - Embiid or otherwise - stepped in to stop him from dunking it home on the drive.
• There were two plays in the halfcourt in which the Sixers completely lost Tobias Harris on defensive coverages and he slid to the rim for wide open dunks. 

Spare thoughts

- Harris is an extremely good dude, but ESPN's commentary on his time in Philadelphia was laughable. Do the homework on your assignment so that you're telling your audience an accurate story.

The Sixers (20-31) will visit the Milwaukee Bucks (27-23) on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., Eastern time. You can watch the game on ABC.

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