Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons power Sixers to 114-110 win over Detroit Pistons

DETROIT — If the 76ers were college students, they would major in letdown games — specializing in the back-end of back-to-backs.

There have been multiples times when the Sixers came off a thrilling victory only to get smacked the next night. They avoided that Saturday night against the last-place Detroit Pistons.

The Sixers prevailed, 114-110, at Little Caesars Arena one night after posting a 12-point victory over the Boston Celtics at Wells Fargo Center.

Joel Embiid finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds. Ben Simmons had a season-high 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. He made 10 of 12 foul shots.

Simmons also did a solid job guarding Jerami Grant. The standout Pistons forward came into the contest averaging 25.1 points and shooting 46.2% from the field. He was held to 11 points on 3-for-19 shooting, including going 2-of-9 on three-pointers.

Grant did, however, hit a three-pointer to pull the Pistons within 110-108 with 28 seconds left. He then intentionally fouled Simmons with 21.1 seconds left. Simmons converted both of free throws.

After a Detroit score, Embiid sank a pair of foul shots to make it a four-point game with 7.2 seconds to play. Grant missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

“It was a tough night,” Rivers said. “I’ll tell you; it wasn’t a beautiful game by us, but it was a win. It was one of those games NBA games where you could see our legs. We had so many wide-open shots down the stretch, everything was under the rim.

“We just needed to survive the game, and I thought our guys did that. So really happy with the win.”

This marked the Sixers’ first round win since defeating the Orlando Magic on Dec. 31 and third overall.

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Tobias Harris added 17 points, while Seth Curry had 14 for the Sixers (12-5).

This barely broke a trend during back-to-backs.

The rolled over the New York Knicks on Dec. 26 at Madison Square Garden only to get rolled by the Cleveland Cavaliers the next night at Quicken Loans Arena.

Then on Jan. 6, they escaped with a five-point home win over the Washington Wizards. The next night, they suffered a 13-point road loss to a Brooklyn Nets squad without its best three players.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why they struggle on back-ends. They had just nine available players in a lopsided road loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 11. Then, they defeated a Miami Heat squad with fewer players than them at home the next night.

“You talk about it, but it is something that we have done,” Rivers said before Saturday’s game about being flat on the second night. “Let’s just throw that out there. I’m not running from that. That’s been our history, right?

“So we have to change that. And the best change that I know of is healthy bodies.”

Reserves Mike Scott (right knee swelling) and Vincent Poirier (NBA protocols) remained sidelined. But Friday and Saturday marked the first time all five Sixers starters — Danny Green, Harris, Embiid, Curry, and Simmons — were available for both games of a back-to-back.

That was good for the Sixers, who improved to 9-0 when their starting lineup is intact. But this wasn’t as easy as expected.

The Pistons (3-13) were without Derrick Rose (left knee soreness), Killian Hayes (right hip strain), and Blake Griffin (left knee injury management). The Sixers had to adjust to the Pistons’ physicality. Detroit was knocking the Sixers around. Often times, things weren’t being called. At one point, Dwight Howard had his shorts ripped by a defender while trying to post up. The refs called the foul on Howard, who, moments later, received a technical for arguing the call.

The Pistons led by as many as 11 points on three occasions in the second quarter. The Sixers were able to get back into the game thanks in large part to Simmons, Embiid, and Harris.

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Simmons arguable had his best first half of the season. He had 16 points on 5-for-6 shooting and made all six of his first-half foul shots.

He started putting the clamps on Grant in the second quarter. The forward missed all four of his shots while scoring three points.

Embiid was doing his part with 21 first-half points, while Harris added 12. However, the Sixers were doomed by being outscored 22-2 in bench points with Tyrese Maxey scoring the lone basket.

But reserves Furkan Korkmaz (eight points), Shake Milton (five), and Howard (three) contributed offensively in the third quarter as the Sixers took a 94-88 lead into the fourth quarter.