Sixers Continue to Sink Into the Abyss in Detroit

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Detroit 111, Philadelphia 91 – Box Score

The only thing more of a mess these days than the American political system is the Philadelphia 76ers defense. The latest caucus took place in Michigan, where the Pistons jumped out to a 24-10 lead and the game was essentially over from there. Detroit ended up scoring 65 points in the first half, as the only thing keeping them from becoming the fourth straight Sixers opponent to score 120 points was their looking largely disinterested for much of the second half.

Relative newcomer Tobias Harris led the way with 22 points on 9-12 shooting. Harris was clearly a terrible match-up for Jahlil Okafor in the two-big Sixers line-up, but even when he was matched up against a wing, Harris was able to drive unmolested to the hoop. Andre Drummond grabbed 18 rebounds to go with 12 points in just under 27 minutes of action, as honestly, seemingly anyone on the Pistons roster who wanted to could have had a huge night. The Sixers defense does not discriminated with who they will allow to score on a given possession.

On the other end, unlike the last couple games, Philadelphia was almost equally terrible offensively. A Robert Covington three-quarter court heave at the first quarter buzzer was almost literally the lone highlight on the evening.

LORD ROBERT COVINGTON! Like a pro!! https://t.co/onHh82wrpu

— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) February 25, 2016

Hollis Thompson led the team with 19 points, hitting 3-4 from three, but so much of that production came in garbage time. Jahlil Okafor was 6-10 from the field for 13 points, while the other four starters combined to shoot 6-31. Before you go ahead thinking Okafor was a bright spot, he was once again sported the team-worst plus/minus, this time at -26. People keep making the argument that it’s not his fault he isn’t playing with better talent, but the team continually being at its worst with Okafor on the court is increasingly concerning.

These last few games have really been painful to watch; congratulations to any of you who haven’t wasted two and a half hours per night watching this train wreck of late. The Sixers are back in action Friday night at home against the Wizards. Here’s hoping John Wall notices the plethora of billboards we have here in Philadelphia, and the Sixers get back to looking like an actual professional basketball team.