The Philadelphia 76ers went for six consecutive wins against the Detroit Pistons and got what they were looking for. The Sixers looked like the better team for the overwhelming majority of the contest and took the win by a score of 113-93. Joel Embiid and James Harden led the way but this win was more of an all-around effort.

Let's break down the Sixers' win over the Pistons.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: Embiid snapped a six-game streak of scoring 30 points on Monday and did not start a new one tonight. Against the Pistons, he got off to a slow start but found his groove to start the second quarter, leading the Sixers offense by gifting good shot opportunities to his teammates. He still got his, leading the game in points while flaunting his ability to find the open man.

With a subtle hesitation that put Isaiah Stewart on the floor and an and-one bucket over Jalen Duren, he provided one of the best highlights of the evening. He ended the night with 22 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four blocks while shooting 6-16 from the field.

James Harden: Harden looked to attack the Pistons' switch-happy defense, scoring 12 points in the first quarter and looking to push the tempo with his playmaking. He also got some tough finishes for himself early in the shot clock. His final stat line: 15 points, eight assists, 6-14 field-goal shooting.

Tobias Harris: Harris, a noted sharpshooter, hit two triples early in the first quarter. Foul trouble negated any further progress in the opening frame and he picked up a third one shortly into his shift in the second quarter. Still, he had another great shooting night with 17 points on 6-9 shooting, including 2-4 from deep.

De’Anthony Melton: After a terribly inefficient night on Monday, Melton didn't do much shooting tonight. But he still had a decent performance and made a pair of fourth-quarter triples to push the lead to 21. He ended the night with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

P.J. Tucker: One might think the 37-year-old, ground-bound forward might struggle to collect rebounds against a team with two young, athletic centers in the starting group. Tucker proved the doubters wrong with seven rebounds in the first half, four of which came on offense. He secured a new season high of 10 boards while providing his typical strong defense and donut in the scoring column.

Pistons player notes:

Jaden Ivey: The Pistons' rookie guard showed he can be a solid leading force for the team while Cade Cunningham recovers. He got off to a hot start with seven points in the first four minutes of action and never stopped attacking. He led Detroit with 18 points while shooting 7-18 from the field.

Bojan Bogdanovic: Bogdanovic had an interesting night on the offensive end. He kept the pressure on Philly's defense and did a good amount of damage from the charity stripe (with 8-9 shooting) but shot just 1-3 from the field, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Jalen Duren: Duren, the youngest player in the league and a former standout at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, recorded seven points, eight rebounds and four assists. He made a couple of nice plays — a solid contest against Embiid, some nice passes — and had a performance better than his pedestrian stat line suggested.

Killian Hayes: The French point guard will almost certainly never live up to the hype of being a top-10 pick but he looked pretty solid. He had 12 points and four assists and looked confident on both ends of the floor.

Game trends:

1st half

  • The Sixers had Melton guard Ivey and Harris match up with Bogdanovic. Harris was the first sub of the game after picking up two quick fouls, with Georges Niang taking his spot. Tucker then took on the Bogdanovic assignment.
  • The Pistons had Stewart match up with Embiid and gave him some physical play. The Pistons sent help behind him, notably Duren, and it worked, holding him to 1-4 shooting by the time he subbed out.
  • Montrezl Harrell once again got the nod for backup center over Paul Reed. He did a lot of (non-spectacular) passing out of the short roll before getting on the board with a big dunk and picking up some buckets in transition in the first quarter.
  • Embiid got going on offense with some nice dimes and a take to the hoop while Matisse Thybulle picked up some steals to help the Sixers go up by 16 points with 10:29 left to go in the first half.
  • The Sixers took a 63-51 lead into halftime. Embiid tallied 14 points and five dimes, which were both game-highs. Philly scored 24 points off of turnovers and 32 in the paint. Those respective numbers for Detroit were six and 18.

2nd half

  • Tucker opened the second half on Bojan with Harris in foul trouble. Harris matched up with Stewart.
  • The Pistons looked outmanned but didn't fold. They kept up with the Sixers on offense thanks to some triples from Saddiq Bey and second-chance opportunities created by Duren.
  • Detroit generated a good amount of open corner threes but couldn't make enough of them to cut their deficit beyond nine points. The Sixers didn't help themselves by missing a ton of bunnies close to the hoop.
  • Embiid saw a ton of smaller players match up with him but wasn't always able to use his size due to the Pistons' active off-ball defense. It was a good test for how he reacted to aggressive defense and did a better job than he did against the Toronto Raptors — albeit, against a weaker squad.

Random rumblings:

  • It's clear that once he starts to get more accustomed to the NBA, Ivey is going to be a heck of a player for a long time. He made Melton work, using his explosiveness to get to his spots and hitting plenty of shots.
  • Harden is looking to challenge Jalen Hurts for the best long ball in the city. He hooked up with Thybulle on an outlet pass in the first quarter and then another to Embiid early in the third. He is always keeping his head up and when he lets it go, it lands right in his receiver's hands.
  • Franklin the Dog made an over-the-head, half-court shot on his first try during a fourth-quarter T-shirt toss. Adam “Sixers Adam” Aaronson of the Rights to Ricky Sanchez has a bit of doubting the mascot's abilities and was understandably not pleased.

The Sixers will end their current home stand on Friday against the LA Clippers.