Tobias Harris scores 18 in return to Philly as lowly Detroit Pistons hand Sixers a bad loss

The 76ers unsuccessfully tried to avoid Toronto 2.0.

That’s when the undermanned squad was supposed to defeat the struggling Toronto Raptors only to suffer an embarrassing loss. They faced a similar situation Wednesday when the winless Detroit Pistons visited the Wells Fargo Center.

“They play really physical,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said of the Pistons before the game. “A lot of big, big, big bodies. A lot of athleticism. So we have to be locked in for 48 minutes from the jump, and then continue to stay disciplined throughout the game.”

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Unfortunately, they couldn’t match the Pistons’ intensity, suffering a 105-95 loss while Joel Embiid and Paul George remained sidelined to start the season.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 1-3. This season has been highlighted by two bad losses to the previously winless Pistons (1-4) and the rebuilding Raptors. Both losses showed that there’s a major drop-off without Embiid (left knee injury recovery) and George (left knee bone bruise).

The Sixers can only hope that they’ll play Saturday night when they host the Memphis Grizzlies.

On Wednesday, the Sixers trailed by as many as 21 points and were outrebounded, 49-37. They also missed 20 of 28 three-pointers.

“Not very good,” coach Nick Nurse said of the Sixers’ offense. “I thought we were sped up. I thought their physicality got us.”

This turned out to be a happy homecoming for Tobias Harris, who played the past 5½ seasons for the Sixers before signing with Detroit in July. The power forward was booed during pregame introductions, whenever he touched the ball and was subbed back into the game.

They cheered when he missed shots. One fan even yelled, “You [stink], Tobias” during a break in the action.

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“This is a crowd that boos their own team,” Harris said. “So it’s just like kind of how it is. But tonight, I thought I did a good job of staying with it all night, not letting it get to me, just really embracing my team and these guys.

“And I thought my team did a really good job of keeping me on track of, ‘Hey, we need you. Don’t worry about that.’ I think it’s funny because for a lot of guys, they were looking at me like, ‘You good?’ And I’m like, ‘Brother, I’ve been through this for a minute, now. So I already know what it is.’”

He acknowledged it was an interesting experience.

“But overall,” Harris said, “a great game for us.”

And he knew how to turn the fans’ disdain toward their own team. The Sixers fans started booing their own team once the Pistons built a sizable lead. And in the closing minutes, fans started heading toward the exits.

Harris had 18 points on 8-for-18 shooting to go with a season-high 14 rebounds. His play picked up as the game progressed. He was limited to four points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half.

He scored seven points while making 3 of 5 shots in the third quarter. The 32-year-old added seven points on 3-for-6 shots while grabbing five rebounds in the fourth quarter.

But the Pistons beat the Sixers with a balanced attack.

Jaden Ivey led Detroit with 23 points. Cade Cunningham added 22 points and seven assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. (16 points while making 5-of-7 three-pointers) and reserve Malik Beasley (11 points) were Detroit’s other double-digit scorers.

Sixers All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey finished with 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting. However, his teammates shot 21-for-54. And even that was misleading, as the Sixers ended the game on a 10-0 run in garbage time.