October 25, 2026
Bill Streicher/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
LeBron James' offensive role was scaled up with Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe sidelined.
PHILADELPHIA – A potential heavyweight fight between the Sixers and Detroit Pistons was bogged down on Sunday night, with multiple key absences on each side limiting the firepower. On one side, Joel Embiid rested on the second leg of a back-to-back and VJ Edgecombe was a late scratch due to an abdominal contusion; on the other, star center Jalen Duren (hamstring) and all-world defender Ausar Thompson (ankle) were out of commission.
Ultimately, Embiid being unavailable in addition to a massive collection of frontcourt injuries put the Sixers in a brutal spot. Before the game, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse acknowledged he had very few options to play center; even with Duren sidelined for Detroit, old friend Paul Reed found himself with a tremendous opportunity.
From the very beginning of the game, the Sixers did not look prepared to bring the requisite physicality to beat the Pistons; Detroit is a particularly tough matchup for a third game in four nights. The Sixers went down 12-1 in the first two minutes and change and never ended up leading, as Detroit pulled away with a 106-93 victory despite a few spirited Sixers pushes.
LeBron James had his moments, but James, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown did not do enough to get the job done without Embiid and Edgecombe by their side. After their rough start, the Sixers played the Pistons evenly. But each minute counts the same; those early ones doomed the Sixers.
The 2026-27 Sixers will not go 82-0. Takeaways from their first loss of the season:
"We've only got about three guys left that can possibly play the five," Nurse said pregame when asked how he would navigate his center rotation with Embiid and Jabari Walker joining the many frontcourt players already on the shelf. "All the guys we’ve got out tonight are fours and fives."
So, how did Nurse envision his center rotation looking?
"Well," Nurse said, "probably Dean [Wade], LeBron and [Adem] Bona."
Ultimately, all of Nurse's rotation decisions had to be made through the lens of how he would manage to find enough viable center minutes to get by.
Given how rough of a start Bona has had to his third NBA season, it was not a surprise to see him not get a start that usually would have been a given for him. Instead, Wade and James tag-teamed the center position to open the game, and it did not go well. The Sixers were absolutely pummeled on the defensive glass; Detroit rebounded its first four misses from the field and one from the line. Nurse's small-ball lineup put his team in a major hole early.
Bona's first stint lasted nearly a dozen minutes, and his plus-four in the box score during that stretch did not reflect just how significantly he turned around his play. Bona was extremely active on the glass, grabbing six boards in his first seven minutes to help the Sixers get themselves back into the game. He was active and light on his feet defensively, also throwing down an alley-oop. He was, of course, imperfect, but he gave the Sixers a legitimate spark when they needed to avoid getting their doors blown off.
Just as importantly, Bona ate up a whole lot of time – nearly a quarter's worth of action. The ability to play long stretches was an underrated trait of Andre Drummond's during his Sixers tenure, and it is a lot easier to piece together 48 minutes of center minutes when somebody gets going. After a few minutes with James back at the five, Bona returned with four minutes and change in the first half and the Sixers trailing by 10 points; that stint was short and stagnant. It was not Bona's fault; the Sixers lacked any offensive groove without Embiid serving as an interior crutch.
Wade and James closed the half at center, and inside of 90 seconds combined to go on a 9-0 run that trimmed the lead down to 12 points. James assisted a Wade triple, then scored three consecutive driving layups. The third, right before the halftime buzzer, ignited a crowd that had already handed out some boos. With James operating as the primary ball-handler and four capable shooters around him, the Sixers saw flashes of major promise with a look they should be expected to use throughout the season.
That torrid run picked right back up in the second half, with James continuing to function as a transition bowling ball. So much has been made about his role as a table-setter and transition quarterback, but he can just as easily be a play finisher with his immense muscle going downhill. Cade Cunningham came through for his team; Detroit's star staved off the Sixers for a while with some tough bucket-getting.
Bona's third quarter put a momentary damper on his night. His flashy plays largely stopped coming and his mistakes were far more frequent. The Sixers did not have much margin for error, and that was more true with Brown as the team's only high-caliber on-ball player in the game. Not that the Sixers ever had a tremendous offensive rhythm prior, but they really got stuck in mud during this stretch. Brown played his worst game with the Sixers by far on a night they could have really used his scoring prowess.
Bona was much better early in the fourth, and his activity on the offensive glass stood out. But the Sixers' offense stalled yet again, prompting Nurse to go back to his small starting lineup. He made a choice: his team needed offense more than defense. Unfortunately for Nurse, his stars did not have enough juice to overcome the deficit.
How Nurse continues to navigate Embiid-less games – of which one would assume there will be many – will be one of his most significant early-season challenges, particularly given the Sixers' current volume of injured bigs. Bona had some predictably regrettable moments, but ate up 24 minutes and made several positive plays. After the nightmarish start to his season, that is something.
Some additional notes:
• Related to the Sixers' lack of options at the five: Nurse said pregame that two-way center Tacko Fall will return "hopefully soon," adding that Fall is "probably not too far away."
• The Sixers' entire 2020 rookie class was on the court Sunday; Maxey went up against both Reed and new Pistons swingman Isaiah Joe. Joe threw down a vicious one-handed poster dunk in transition, but took a hard fall on his tailbone. Remarkably, Joe did not even go to the locker room despite what initially appeared to be a scary injury. He was later ruled out for the second half.
• Speaking of rookies, early foul trouble for Maxey meant Labaron Philon Jr. got another early crack at minutes; he floated home two for his first NBA points:
first NBA bucket for the rookie @LabaronPhilon 👏 pic.twitter.com/Pv959jyZtG
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 25, 2026
Philon later threw that lob to Bona, and also displayed some of the defensive aptitude Nurse has spoken about fondly. He pressured the ball tightly and made himself a pest. It is a good starting point for the 20-year-old.
Up next: The Sixers will get on their first flight of the year on Tuesday, and on Wednesday night they will face the Indiana Pacers in a tough road test.
