PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers will look to keep things moving in the right direction on Sunday when they play host to the Detroit Pistons on the second night of a back-to-back. The Sixers will be hosting a red-hot Pistons team which has won five in a row.
Detroit has continued to follow the lead of star guard Cade Cunningham who is averaging 25.6 points, 9.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. He averages 11.5 points in the fourth quarter alone as he has risen to the challenge when the game is in its highest moments so the Sixers know there will be a challenge.
Tyrese Maxey, who along with Cunningham is a Texas native, gave his respect to him as well as Pistons big man Jalen Duren heading into the contest. On the second night of a back-to-back, this will be a big challenge for Philadelphia.
“Go home, get some rest,” Maxey started. “We know what the task at hand is. This Detroit team is really good. They’ve won, I think the last five games, I think. The head of the snake, Cade Cunningham, great guard. He’s playing at a high level. Duren is playing at a high level and that team plays extremely hard every single night. JB (Bickerstaff) has done a great job with that group.”
The Sixers will be without Joel Embiid who is out due to it being a back-to-back. Therefore, guys like Adem Bona and Andre Drummond will have to step up and produce to give Philadelphia a defensive presence on the back end when it comes to the Cunningham-Duren pick-and-roll for the Pistons.
Either way, Maxey and the Sixers will have to strap up the sneakers and get after it on Sunday.
“We know it’s gonna be a tall task, but at the end of the day, we gotta strap the boots up and go out there and go to work,” Maxey finished. “It’s gonna be fun. Get our rest in, come in, get a game plan, the coaches will have one, and we’ll show up to play.”
The Sixers and Pistons tip off at 7:30 p.m. EST on Sunday.
