PHILADELPHIA — NBA homestands can provide electric and unbeatable situations for some teams.
For these 76ers, that’s been the case.
On Wednesday, they continued their victory march at the Wells Fargo Center with a 113-93 win over the Detroit Pistons. They’re 6-0 during this stretch, also posting victories over the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Toronto Raptors. The Sixers (18-12) will cap their seven-game homestand at 7 p.m. Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The six victories mark their longest winning streak since they won seven straight last season from Dec. 21, 2021, to Jan. 10.
On this night, the Sixers had six double-digit scorers.
Joel Embiid had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Tobias Harris added 17 points, while James Harden 15 points and eight assists. De’Anthony Melton (12 points), Georges Niang (11) and Montrezl Harrell 10) were the other double-digit scorers.
Rookie Jaden Ivy paced the Pistons (8-26) with 18 points, while another rookie and former Roman Catholic standout Jalen Duren had seven points and eight rebounds. Former Villanova star Saddiq Bey added 11 points.
Detroit shot 39.2% from the field and committed 22 turnovers.
Harden’s minutes
Harden logged 32 minutes, 34 seconds against the Pistons. This was light night for the 33-year-old, who logged an average of 39:07 in his first six games back after being sidelined for 14 games with a strained tendon in his right foot.
“I’m not worried at all,” Doc Rivers said of Harden’s minutes. “It’s early in the year. I’ll guarantee you by the end of the year, you’ll look at his numbers and they’ll look great. You know, it’s a whole year. That’s why we can’t overdo things when guys have a three-week spike in minutes and all of a sudden we are overreacting to that.
“No you don’t. We’ve been low on guards, so guys have to play minutes.”
Wednesday’s matchup marked the 15th game that shooting guard Tyrese Maxey missed with a fractured left foot. Harden averaged 39.1 minutes in the nine games he played before the injury.
“James is one of those guys who can handle minutes,” Rivers said. “But by the end of the year, his minutes will be down.”
Rivers said he’ll slowly bring Harden’s playing time down after Maxey and the other guards return.
“It’s not like honestly there’s things on our checklist,”the coach said. “I can tell you that’s not one of them. We’re not that concerned with that.”
Duren’s homecoming
This contest was a homecoming for Duren, who attended Roman for two years. The Delaware native had tickets for 50 family members and friends at the game.
The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder’s eight rebounds were tied for the team high. He produced that after seven straight games with double-digit rebounds. That’s not surprising to the Pistons.
“That was one area I felt like he was going to respond to and would translate to the NBA game was rebounding, his rim protection,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “What’s going to take time is his shooting, his free throws … all those things, defensive coverage terminology, all those things would take time. But the one thing I knew would translate would be his rebounding.”
Casey said that’s because of Duren’s size, physicality and his natural knack to rebound. That’s something the coach said you can’t teach.
The 19-year-old averaged 7.2 points and 8.2 rebounds through his first 30 appearances of the season. Wednesday’s contest marked his seventh start.
He has met the Piston’s expectations on defense.
“There’s a lot of little nuances he’s still learning because of different things he’s got to do,” Casey said. “And he’s learning. Great, great student. You know, a sponge.
“But again, there’s no magic wand to say where he gets it in real time. Just like all rookies, there’s a learning curve. But he’s right on track where he should be.”
During his one year at Memphis, NBA scouts questioned Duren’s love for the game. He also had a reputation of not working or practicing hard. However, folks close to the Pistons say he’s a different player now. A lot of that has to do with Detroit power forward Isaiah Stewart, who pushes Duren to always be at his best.
But Casey credits Memphis coach Penny Hardaway and assistant Larry Brown, a former Sixers coach, for Duren’s ability to acclimate quickly to the NBA game.
