James Harden delivered a triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, Tyrese Maxey had 23 points and the visiting Philadelphia 76ers rolled past the Detroit Pistons 123-111 on Sunday afternoon.
Montrezl Harrell had 20 points and six rebounds and Paul Reed contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for the Sixers. Georges Niang tossed in 14 points and Tobias Harris added 12 for Philadelphia, which led virtually from start to finish.
Killian Hayes led the Pistons with 26 points, six assists and three steals. Isaiah Stewart had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic also scored 20 points.
Hamidou Diallo and Alec Burks added 12 points apiece for Detroit and Jaden Ivey chipped in 10 with six assists.
Sixers star center Joel Embiid missed his third consecutive game with a sore left foot. Detroit rookie center Jalen Duren sat out with an ankle injury.
Philadelphia led 35-27 after the first quarter. Niang made two 3-pointers, sandwiching one by Maxey, during the first two minutes of the second quarter to make it 44-31.
A 9-0 Detroit spurt midway through the quarter cut the Sixers’ advantage to four. Philadelphia came back with a 12-0 run a little later to make it 67-51 behind six points and two assists from Harden. He also assisted on the final points of the half, a Reed layup, to give the Sixers a 71-54 halftime advantage.
Philadelphia had four players in double figures by the break, led by Harrell with 16 points. Stewart topped the Pistons at halftime with 15 points.
The Pistons cut the deficit to 11 during the first five minutes of the second half. A pair of Harden free throws pushed the lead to 17 again at 87-70 with five minutes left in the quarter.
Detroit cut it to 10 on three Burks free throws but the Sixers finished the quarter on a 10-2 run, including seven Maxey points, to carry a 100-82 lead into the fourth.
The Pistons were unable mount enough of a comeback in the final quarter.
–Field Level Media