DETROIT — What a difference a couple of days makes.
And it helps when the opposition doesn’t have its best player.
The Pistons took advantage of the Philadelphia 76ers playing without Joel Embiid and led the entire way through a 119-104 victory on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena. The win ended the Pistons’ four-game losing skid and turned the tables on Saturday’s loss to the Sixers
Delon Wright had a career-high 28 points and added seven rebounds and nine assists. Jerami Grant had 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Wayne Ellington 20 points for the Pistons (4-13).
Tobias Harris led the Sixers (12-6) with 25 points and seven rebounds and Tyrese Maxey 17 points.
The Pistons took a double-digit lead in the opening minutes, behind Ellington, who had a pair of 3-pointers in the first four minutes, and five points from Wright. After Blake Griffin scored on a drive, the Pistons’ lead was 17-4 at the 8:23 mark.
The Pistons expanded the lead to 64-50 at halftime but the Sixers used an 8-0 run to get back to single digits, and another 8-0 run to get within 76-69 at the 3:56 left. The Pistons kept them at an arm’s length for most of the fourth quarter and pulled away in the final minutes.
Here are some observations from the Pistons’ win:
— Wayne's World: Wayne Ellington continued his string of sterling shooting, hitting another 3-pointers in the first half. That brought his total to 25 in the last five games, setting a new franchise record. Ellington added another 3-pointer in the second half. Ellington has found a very nice rhythm in the backcourt and has stabilized the position in the starting lineup, at least for the time being. His spot-up shooting is making defenders run out to guard him, and he’s been able to get by them and finish at the basket as well. It’s a template for the young players who are learning the position, which is what the coaching staff is hoping to get from starting Ellington, 33.
— Back on track: After a subpar game on Saturday, Jerami Grant got back on the right track, with an effective and efficient scoring game, with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Grant got back to scoring at least 20 points, which he did for a league-leading 15th game this season. He looked to be more fluid and not forcing shots, which is the key to his game, in a way that he’s able to read the defense and proceed accordingly, whether it’s finishing at the rim or finding the open teammate. He’s in a good rhythm, which coach Dwane Casey commenting last week, looking for Grant to develop his vision in how teams are defending him.
— Middle open: The Sixers were playing without All-Star center Joel Embiid, which opened the paint for the Pistons to drive and gave them some relief on the defensive end. Embiid had 33 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday’s win over the Pistons and Dwight Howard started in his place and wasn’t nearly as effective, with five points and three rebounds in the first half. The Sixers leaned more on Tobias Harris (25 points) and didn’t have the same advantage without Embiid that they had in the first game. Mason Plumlee and Isaiah Stewart were both in foul trouble in the last game but were able to play more freely and didn’t have as much trouble defending Howard and Tony Bradley in the post.
— Bad boy Jackson: Josh Jackson had been having a nice game off the bench, but got into some verbal jabs with the Sixers’ Ben Simmons. The two had been getting chippy for much of the second half, with several run-ins and smaller spats, but it bubbled up with double-technical fouls in the third quarter, which developed into more talk and some heated words. After some more words, Jackson was called for an offensive foul and heatedly threw the ball towards an official, which earned him a second technical foul and an ejection. It’s the Pistons spirit that fans love to see, and it got a good reaction from the few fans in attendance.
— Doing it Wright: Delon Wright added another pace to his aggressive play, with his best game of the season, He had a nice blend to his game, with probing, penetrating in the paint and hitting from the perimeter, going 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. He finished with a season-high 28 points, seven rebounds and nine assists. He’s been a good fill-in for the Pistons in the absence of Killian Hayes, and as he’s finding his niche with the starting group, he’s becoming more of a multi-faceted weapon.
