History again had its eyes on the Philadelphia 76ers (17-7) as they faced the Detroit Pistons (2-23) again. This time in the comfort of their home at the Wells Fargo Center after a win on Wednesday, the Sixers handled business and won by a final score of 124-92.

Let's break down the Sixers' fifth straight win and avoidance of being the sorry saps that let the Pistons beat them.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 35 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals, 9-19 FG shooting

Looking to make it a franchise record nine straight 30-10 games, the big man was a bit sloppy to start this game, committing some bad turnovers and hitting the side of the backboard on a fadeaway. Still, the ball found the bottom of the net often for Embiid. He didn’t totally obliterate the Pistons but was just normally overpowering in this one. His defense at the rim shined throughout the 29 minutes he played.

Tyrese Maxey: 19 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 2 steals, 7-16 FG shooting

Maxey proved his 2-13 shooting from the field last game was a deviation from the norm as he made three of his first four shots tonight. His efficiency faded as the night went on, mainly from deep, but he still did what he needed to do on top of making some nice off-ball defensive plays.

Pistons player notes:

Cade Cunningham: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2-9 FG shooting

Cunningham was solid for the Pistons on Wednesday despite his poor field-goal shooting. But in this one, he didn’t get anything going. I'm not sure if there were any major silver linings from his performance. The bust allegations are going to be very tough to beat at this point.

Bojan Bogdanovic was once again Detroit's most consistent (and only good) shot creator, ending the night with 17 points on 6-12 shooting in 26 minutes. James Wiseman stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Game recap:

1st half

The Sixers extended the Pistons' streak of futility on Wednesday with a dominant defeat and extended the contract of Daryl Morey earlier this afternoon. Philly has taken care of business in the pushover portion of its schedule so far. Detroit, meanwhile, is just looking for a brief release from its freefall. Without Jalen Duren, Marvin Bagley III and Monte Morris again, the Pistons had less footing on their uphill battle against Embiid and company.

The starting defensive assignments were the same as last time: Ausar Thompson on Maxey, Isaiah Stewart on Embiid, Harris on Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum on Cunningham. Detroit was more resistant to switching screens involving Embiid but not completely. The fact that they were at least not trying to concede the switch right away made a difference. While perhaps not a direct impact of this tactical change, Philly shot just 1-9 from deep in the first quarter.

The Sixers' defense was suffocating for the Pistons, who could hardly get a clean pass off, let alone a good shot. Cunningham looked flummoxed regardless of whether Batum was able to guard him or De'Anthony Melton stepped in. Melton's hands were all over the Pistons' offense, leading to easy offense on the other end. Both the Detroit offense and Embiid got going after shaky starts with Bogdanovic's scoring again being the catalyst for the Motor City squad. Wiseman contributed points off of hustle plays but gave them right back to Embiid on the other end.

Oubre flushed a two-handed dunk on Wiseman to start the second quarter. Both teams looked to push the pace but neither were able to score consistently. The Sixers' half-court offense had, by my count, one legitimately good sequence of ball movement in the half-court that was killed when Marcus Morris Sr. stopped to take (and miss) a face-up, fadeaway middie. He did, however, help Philly's cause by scoring on a trio of catch-and-shoot threes.

The Sixers shook up their rotation pattern by giving Maxey a break in the second quarter after Embiid checked in. They went with a big lineup of Melton-Harris-Batum-Morris-Embiid for just the few minutes he was out. Batum picked up Cunningham in the backcourt to throw off Detroit's offensive timing. Stewart picked up his third foul before the half ended and he picked up a technical along with Embiid for their trash-talking.

At halftime, the Sixers led 61-39. It didn’t feel like they played all that well but that just shows what this Pistons team is like.

2nd half

Stewart blew an easy scoring opportunity on a layup as he heard Embiid's footsteps right behind him. He also committed his fourth foul of the game, sending Wiseman in and Embiid to the foul line. Embiid got the quick seal on Wiseman and forced him to commit a foul, too.

The Sixers kept their foot on the gas with the help of some nice passing from Batum, who ran the fast break perfectly with Maxey and assisted Embiid on a triple. The big fella started to get into a groove with his mid-range shot as he notched his ninth straight 30-point-10-rebound game, setting a new franchise record.

It's not every day that a player encroaches, let alone surpasses, an achievement or stretch set by Wilt Chamberlain. Today wasn’t like every other day, though. For as oddly specific as this statistical achievement may be, it nonetheless signifies an incredible run for Embiid. Poor competition notwithstanding, he's performing at a special, special level again.

The Sixers pushed their lead into the 30s as the third quarter continued. The Pistons turned to Marcus Sasser and Joe Harris later in the period, seemingly just to get some new guys in the game. Sasser at least put a nice shot fake on Embiid to get him in the air and score a layup around him. Philly led 94-62 after three.

Jaden Springer and Danuel House Jr. started the fourth quarter along with three bench guys and Mo Bamba came in with nine minutes left. Morris continued his torrid shooting, Springer made some nice plays on offense and Furkan Korkmaz and K.J. Martin found their way into the matchup. Each member of the garbage-time gang got a bucket.

The Sixers survived this trap series against the Pistons, who are on their way to becoming the first NBA team to lose 30 straight games.

Random rumblings:

The Sixers are back in action tomorrow night as they get their first look of the season at the Charlotte Hornets.