The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Detroit Pistons in a physical, initially sloppy game to record their seventh straight win. The Sixers overcame a 16-point deficit behind strong second-half efforts from Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Following the game, Embiid said there was the potential for extracurricular activity between him and his opponents.

The Sixers and Pistons were each playing in their first NBA In-Season Tournament game. This game was one of four in Group Play, which uses point differential as a tiebreaker. Thus, it makes sense for teams to run up the score as much as they can. That’s what Embiid was trying to do with Philly up by eight in the final seconds of the game. He hit the shot but didn’t get it off in time.

Embiid said after the game that the Pistons followed him and tried to confront him about the shot, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire.

“The only thing I noticed was people trying to fight me because they don't know the rules,” Embiid said. “When it comes to the tournament points matter. I wish that shot would have counted and I actually didn’t know that they was trying to fight me. So I wish I would have seen that, but everything counts. It’s fun to challenge for something else on the team. Wherever that takes us, we’ll take it.”

Per Carlin, Embiid was told that both players and coaches from the Pistons were unhappy with his last-second shot. To what degree Detroit actually wanted to fight — whether they just wanted to squabble with Embiid or were ready to get really physical — is unknown. It's not a stretch of the imagination to conjure thoughts of Isaiah Stewart not being happy with Embiid, in his team's view, being a front-runner. But with tangible effects riding on the margin of the win, the shot made sense.

In the end, the Sixers got their seventh straight win and took a good first step in their Group Play.