DETROIT (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 30 of his 41 points in the first half and the Philadelphia 76ers handed the Detroit Pistons their 21st straight loss, 129-111 on Wednesday night to open a home-and-home series.
Detroit matched the longest streak in franchise history, set at the end of the 1979-80 season and start of 1980-81. It is the sixth-longest single-season losing streak in the NBA.
Only the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers (both lost 26 straight), along with the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies, the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets and the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats (all lost 23 in a row) have lost more games in a row in a season. Philadelphia holds the overall mark of 28, set at the end of 2014-15 and start of 2015-16.
Detroit dropped to 2-22, with the teams set to meet again Friday night in Philadelphia. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 33 points, and Cade Cunningham had 21.
Former Piston Tobias Harris added 21 points for Philadelphia and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 17. The 76ers outrebounded Detroit 52-35.
The 76ers led 70-56 at the half and pushed the margin to 18 in the first four minutes of the third. Detroit, playing a small-ball lineup with starting center Jalen Duren injured, struggled to keep Philadelphia off the boards.
Detroit missed all seven 3-pointers in the quarter and had starting power forward Isaiah Stewart ejected for a flagrant-2 foul on Patrick Beverley. The 76ers led 104-80 at period’s end and by 30 in the fourth.
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