Recap: Sixers lose 106-93 to Pistons for first defeat of the season

The Sixers lost their first game of the season Sunday night, falling 106-93 to the Detroit Pistons at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Philadelphia came in 3-0 and left 3-1, and Detroit led the whole way.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists on 9-of-19 shooting. Duncan Robinson scored 21, Daniss Jenkins had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and John Collins added 16 points and 11 rebounds. Detroit is 3-0 for the first time since 2008.

The Pistons did it shorthanded. Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson were out, and Isaiah Joe left with a tailbone contusion four minutes into his first on-court action. Detroit still led by as many as 21 in the first half and the Sixers never took the lead.

The Sixers had no answer inside without Embiid

Jaylen Brown struggled in the Sixers loss tonight 😬

16 points
5/20 FG
5 fouls
-19

Philly drops their first game. pic.twitter.com/Qxg5VmTyWq

— Polymarket Hoops (@PolymarketHoops) October 26, 2026

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Joel Embiid sat out with right foot plantar fasciitis management on the second night of the Sixers’ first back-to-back. He had a triple-double against Milwaukee on Saturday with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He said he felt good enough to play Sunday and asked reporters to campaign for him. The team overruled him. Embiid has averaged 49 games a season over his 10 years in the league, so the decision is easy to defend.

It still cost the Sixers. Ariel Hukporti is out with a torn right Achilles tendon and Dominick Barlow is out with a lower back injury, so Philadelphia had almost no size behind Embiid. VJ Edgecombe missed the game with an abdominal contusion and Jabari Walker was out too.

Maxey carried the Sixers, Brown struggled to score

Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 29 points. He dealt with early foul trouble and did not make his first field goal until 5:20 was left in the second quarter. Detroit’s physical defense made every possession a fight for him.

Jaylen Brown scored 16 points on 5-of-20 shooting, and the Sixers could not afford that kind of night. LeBron James added 18 points, two rebounds and five assists. Nobody else gave Philadelphia enough scoring to catch a Detroit team missing two starters.

The Sixers did cut into the lead. They closed the first half on a 9-0 run and later pulled within five, but Cunningham hit two straight threes to push the Pistons back up by nine. Detroit led by 10 after three quarters and finished the job.

The Sixers are 3-1, and the loss came on a back-to-back without their starting center and a starting guard. One game does not change that. It does show how little room the Sixers have when Embiid sits.