Quick Six: Sixers make mockery of Detroit's crimes against basketball

Joel Embiid snapped Wilt Chamberlain’s franchise record for most consecutive 30-point, 10-rebound games, putting together his ninth such performance in a 124-92 blowout of the Detroit Pistons.

Here’s what I saw.

The Pistons don’t require a professional effort

I’m not sure the Sixers ever even got to second gear in this game. They didn’t need to be against this sorry-ass Pistons team, obviously, but it was a noticeable step back from their performance on the road in Detroit.

Philadelphia’s offensive process left a lot to be desired in the first half. While their transition attack was deadly — more on that in a moment — it felt like they played far too slow on set possessions. There were a few too many plays that resembled what we saw last season, with Joel Embiid getting the ball at the nail only to jab step over and over and over again, burning seconds off of the shot clock with nothing really accomplished. And to be fair to the big guy, he was put in tough spots by teammates on several occasions, handed a hot potato late in the clock he had to do something with.

And yet, you looked up at the end of the first half and the Sixers were up 22. It says more about Detroit than anything else, with the Pistons dropping a blizzard of bricks. If there was a defining feature of Philadelphia’s performance, it was Embiid’s mastery of mind games. Embiid was impossible to keep off of the free-throw line, earning 10 free throws in the first half with Isaiah Stewart hacking and grabbing repeatedly amid a trash-talk battle between the two bigs.

This Pistons team is much more depressing than the Process Sixers because the bulk of the guys playing are supposed to be core players rather than the second-round picks and undrafted free agents who made up that rebuilding group. I’m very glad I don’t have to cover garbage like this often.

Methodical Embiid dominance

As relatively unimpressive as I thought the Sixers were in this game, I have to do my bi-weekly, “Don’t take Embiid for granted!” reminder for the masses.

On Friday night, Embiid only played 29 minutes and still managed to put up a line of 35-13-2 with two steals and four blocks. In the process, he broke Wilt Chamberlain’s franchise record of eight consecutive 30-10 games, with Mr. Process standing alone at the top of the mountain after his ninth consecutive 30-10. Doing so despite the blowout and without needing to stat pad in fourth quarters makes it all the more impressive, no matter what you think of this Detroit nonsense.

Seriously: the guy snapped a record set by Wilt Chamberlain. His records show up in graphics in comparison to modern guys and look like someone was playing a video game on easy mode. Put some respect on what the big guy is doing right now, no matter how trashy the Pistons are. A whole lot of other guys have had soft portions of the schedule to attack and never managed this.

Run Maxey run

For the second game in a row, Tyrese Maxey struggled to find the range against the Pistons. I will probably look for deeper answers on that front because it didn’t feel like they did anything special, nor did they use a gratuitous amount of Ausar Thompson on him to mess with his airspace.

That being said, Maxey still managed to leave a positive mark on this game, in part because he was a terror for Detroit off of misses. When you miss as many shots as the Pistons do, you damn well better play some transition defense, but Maxey is capable of dicing up good transition defense, let alone whatever Detroit had to offer in this game.

“Run faster than everyone else” is one way to get around a wonky jumper, even if it’s only a temporarily wonky jumper.

Marcus Morris is the human torch

We have spent a lot of time talking about the Philadelphia native because of issues he has had on defense, but let’s call it as it is — as long as Marcus Morris shoots like this, I’m not sure it matters if he plays a lick of defense. He has been absolutely on fire since joining the Sixers, and he built on that hot start with yet another incredible outing.

There have even been signs of life from Morris on the other end, unsurprisingly as he has played his natural power forward spot and hasn’t been asked to play minutes at small-ball center. But let’s be real, you don’t need to play much defense if you hit five threes in a game as a bench role-player. Kudos to the vet for taking this opportunity and sprinting with it.

Batum entry passes forever

On a possession in the first quarter, Tobias Harris was moving into position to try to catch a pass while posting up on the right block. With Embiid struggling to find a passing window, Nico Batum flashed across the lane, caught a quick pass from the big man, and immediately threw a beautiful entry pass to Harris, who drew a foul underneath the basket.

If you are sick of me praising little things like this from Batum:

• You’re wrong
• Get used to it
• Appreciate high-IQ basketball, damn it!

Batum’s quick reads at every level of the floor make him a perfect cog for what Nick Nurse wants to accomplish on offense. He had a beautiful give-and-go with Tyrese Maxey for a transition layup, and with as many times as I’ve watched the Sixers smoke “easy” plays over the years, you learn to treasure this stuff.

Culture team?

One of my favorite parts about the Sixers’ blowouts this year is that the bench mob has come in and played their butts off in what we would usually refer to as garbage time. Nick Nurse has rejected that label recently, saying that there are things to accomplish, reps to get in, and respect to be paid to the game even when it’s mostly wrapped up.

Well, his team has embodied that. Guys like Danuel House Jr., Mo Bamba, and others come into these games with little to play for and compete harder than anyone on the opponent. There is certainly an individual incentive to do so — these guys have short careers and have to try to impress whenever and however they can — but you’re fighting human nature when you get this deep into a game against a CYO team like the 23-24 Pistons.

It’s more fun than it should be to watch, is what I’m saying.