DETROIT – Joel Embiid is the undisputed star of the Philadelphia 76ers but coach Nick Nurse is aiming for his team to be as well-rounded as possible, in the event that the 2.13m centre is not having a good performance.
On Friday night, Embiid had 33 points and 16 rebounds and the streaking Sixers (7-1) won their opener in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) in-season tournament by powering past the slumping Detroit Pistons 114-106.
“We can’t be a one-man team or a two-man team – we need to get production from Tobias (Harris), (De’Anthony) Melton and Kelly (Oubre Jr),” Nurse said, as quoted by ESPN.
“We know there are times when teams are going to have to put two guys on Joel or two guys on Tyrese (Maxey), and we’ve got to be able to take advantage of those situations.”
Embiid shot eight for 21 from the field and 16 for 19 from the foul line, and was helped by his supporting cast.
Maxey racked up 29 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals for Philadelphia, who have won seven straight games as they lead the Eastern Conference.
Harris contributed 24 points and five rebounds, while Melton added 10 points and Oubre eight.
Killian Hayes led Detroit (2-8), who have lost seven straight, with 23 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Cade Cunningham supplied 21 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Ausar Thompson had 12 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, while Isaiah Stewart and Stanley Umude added 10 points apiece.
Pistons centre Jalen Duren departed early with an ankle injury.
“Any time a guy can’t finish the game, it is a concern,” Detroit coach Monty Williams said.
“But we can’t use injuries as an excuse. Joel is tough enough to guard... but that’s not what beat us, though. We just made too many big mistakes.”
The Pistons held a 56-48 half-time advantage, but the Sixers opened the second half with a 12-4 spurt to tie the score.
Melton opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and Maxey followed with a lay-up to make it 88-77. Harris converted a feed from Maxey for a 15-point lead.
Detroit scored the next four points but could not get the deficit under double digits until the final minute.
“I thought we were about a half-step slow at the start of the game and they were about two steps fast,” Nurse said.
“They were kicking our backsides in every phase of the game, but we hung in there and played a lot better in the second half.”
Elsewhere, Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 28 points to help the Boston Celtics end a two-game losing streak by beating the visiting Brooklyn Nets 121-107.
Brown shot 10 of 19 from the floor and made five of his nine three-point attempts. He scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half.
Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Celtics (6-2), who were playing their first in-season tournament game. Jrue Holiday finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Tatum was delighted to get back in the win column.
“It’s a long season,” he said. “You want to win all of them but, you know, that’s unlikely.
“It’s just about how you respond and you regroup. And I think we did that in a big way tonight.”
Lonnie Walker IV came off the bench to lead Brooklyn (4-5) with 20 points and seven rebounds. He made eight of 12 attempts from the floor.
Meanwhile, LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell added 19 points with nine assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a three-game losing streak with a 122-119 road victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Anthony Davis scored 18 points with 11 rebounds for the Lakers after missing Wednesday’s loss at Houston with a hip injury.
Los Angeles (4-5) won on the road for the first time in six tries.
Kevin Durant scored 38 points with nine rebounds and Bradley Beal added 24 points in his second game of the season as Phoenix (4-5) saw a brief two-game winning streak come to an end.
REUTERS
