PHILADELPHIA – The quote of the night on Sunday belonged to Tyrese Maxey.

"If some of our tall guys could come back," Maxey said, "that would be great."

The Sixers lost their first game of the 2026-27 season, with a Detroit Pistons team dealing with two major injuries outlasting the Sixers in a war of attrition. While awaiting the returns of Dominick Barlow (back), Jabari Walker (knee) and Tacko Fall (quad), the Sixers were without Joel Embiid on Sunday as he rested in the second leg of a back-to-back. 

For a team with a tough opening schedule – both in terms of opponents and timing – the Sixers will happily take a 3-1 record into their second week of the season. In this week's 5 Sixers thoughts, detailing some initial takeaways after four games:

Offensive reliance on Joel Embiid persists

There should be no questioning that, even after the transformational summer that brought Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to Philadelphia, the Sixers' championship-level aspirations remain dependent on Joel Embiid, the former NBA MVP still capable of being a singular offensive force.

The early returns on the Sixers' offense without Embiid have been extremely underwhelming. It is too early to project serious doubt about their ability to score without relying on Embiid carrying massive usage. But while Embiid's minutes have generated a 112.3 Offensive Rating for the Sixers so far this season, the Sixers entered Sunday scoring only 92.8 points per 100 possessions with Embiid off the floor. Then came a frustrating offensive performance against Detroit, during which none of the Sixers' available stars had particularly strong nights.

What makes Embiid an irresistible force for the Sixers to lean on is that, even when he is not scoring all that well, defenses cannot afford to do anything but commit multiple defenders to him. Embiid is nearly impossible to cover one-on-one, so just throwing him the ball can force a defense into rotation without a true advantage even being created.

Embiid has grown more and more willing to trust the pass as his career has gone on. On Saturday, Embiid picked up his 10th and final assist to help the Sixers put the game away. 

"I get more fulfilled when I play team basketball and the ball is moving, and I'm making plays for everybody," Embiid said after recording his 10th career triple-double. "Like, it just feels so much better as a basketball player, so nights like tonight, last night, every night. Yeah, that's the way I like to play. The ball moving, everybody touching it, side to side, and that's good offense."

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse acknowledged before and after Sunday's game that his team's offense is not all that advanced yet, though he did not sound remotely concerned. Exactly how proficient can this team be scoring without Embiid as a crutch?

"I think," LeBron James said, "as the more minutes we get and the more games that we get under our belt, the more time we get, we’ll start to understand what works well for us."

MORE: Sixers only have one ball. All of their stars are getting chances to play with it.

Jaylen Brown still searching for certainty

It has been evident all along that Jaylen Brown has been searching for certainty in his role. He has played off the ball so much more than he is used to when the Sixers have had their starters available, and it has probably led to Brown being more aggressive than he should be on the ball in lineups catered to his scoring prowess.

"I'm still kind of getting used to the guys, where my spots are, where our spacing is," Brown said on Saturday. "As I get more and more comfortable, I'll be able to make more plays for myself and others."

Brown played his worst game with the Sixers to date on Sunday; on a night his volume scoring would have come in handy he shot 5-for-20 from the field. 

Was Brown's issue on Sunday his shooting or his shots? Nurse indicated after the game that he wants Brown to stop passing up catch-and-shoot three-point opportunities.

"I’ve got to look at it a little bit," Nurse said. "I think that – I think I talked about this the other night: I think when it comes out to him, I think there's some more vault-up-and-shoot threes. He obviously had a lot of traffic in there tonight. And I think he got to some good spots down there and just didn’t get them in there. A number of close-up finishes that normally would go. But I thought he was in a lot of traffic tonight."

Of course, playing in traffic can be a bit more problematic for players with suspect handles. That is Brown's primary weakness. Nobody should set off any alarms, but it will continue to be worth monitoring how Brown handles his ever-changing offensive role.

Anfernee Simons struggling mightily

In the third quarter of the Sixers' season opener, Simons knocked down three critical triples. The Sixers would not have spoiled the New York Knicks' ring night without those threes.

Since shooting 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-8 from beyond the arc at Madison Square Garden, Simons has shot a combined 3-for-21 from the field and 2-for-13 on threes across three games. It has been rough.

Nurse mentioned before Sunday's game that the Sixers have a few players whose preseason absences have been evident early on in the regular season. Simons missed most of camp and all four of the Sixers' exhibitions due to a nagging hamstring issue. Does he put Simons in that bucket?

"Yeah, that's possibly it," Nurse said. "He didn't get any training camp time at all. Played a really great game [in New York], and like I talk about, it's hard to not play in training camp and in any preseason games, and then you get into that incredibly intense part of it, and it takes a toll. But I really like him. I think he's going to be an explosive scorer for us, and we'll get there with him for sure."

With Embiid and VJ Edgecombe sidelined, Sunday would have been an especially helpful time for Simons to break out of his slump; instead it intensified. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a far more useful player on both ends of the floor so far.

One potential avenue for Simons to succeed: coexisting with Embiid, whose history of thriving alongside shooting guards like Simons speaks for itself.

"Obviously, we added a few guys this summer, but he was probably one I was most excited about because I just love that type of dynamic shooter," Embiid said. "I've had JJ [Redick], I've had a couple guys, and I felt like I could help them a lot, create space and make plays for them and put them in position to succeed, and get them paid. So, I'm still working on that and trying to find what he’s comfortable with, and also help him and put him in the best position to succeed."

MORE: Jaylen Brown takes shots at Jayson Tatum

Backup center spot remains a revolving door

Do the Sixers even have a backup center?

Nominally, Adem Bona fits the bill right now. After three brutal performances to start his third NBA season, Bona logged 25 energetic minutes on Sunday, grabbing 13 rebounds and swatting three shots. He made predictable costly mistakes, too, but it was an improvement.

"I was really happy with him," Nurse said. "I thought he was – that’s kind of the first game he’s impacted. And I was really happy with the way he played."

Perhaps the important thing for Bona to accomplish: earn James' trust. What did the NBA's all-time leading scorer think on Sunday?

"First of all, I thought he was amazing tonight," James said. "His energy, his effort. For us that wasn’t rebounding well, he came in and gave us that spark on that rebounding – offensively and defensively. So his energy and his effort is going to be big for our team throughout the whole season. And for us, every now and then, hopefully we can break down the defense and just get into the lane where we’re able to throw him a lob, throw him a pocket pass. He had a couple today. He had a lob catch. He also had a drop-off for a dunk, so he was really good."

James has played as much backup center as anybody on this team, certainly not the plan for a 41-year-old. Nurse acknowledged pregame that it may not be ideal to use that wrinkle this often this early in the season, but only so many players available can actually play center. "Well, sh*t, we've got an MVP over there," James said, gesturing towards Embiid's locker across the room, when asked if this role was sustainable.

"I'm not here to have a sustainable role at the five," James said. "We have Joel Embiid on the team. I don't see it being a sustainable role, but it's a role that we know that we can tap into if we need it. I know I can play one through five, offensively and defensively, if needed. But, sustainable role playing the five, I don't think that's – if I were to say I was signed here to have a sustainable role at the five, I don't think any of us actually want that."

Dean Wade is another small-ball option, but his constant injury issues make that far from a foolproof plan. The Sixers could also really use Wade's perimeter chops on defense; he is the most versatile defender on this team. It seemed that, after a strong preseason and surprisingly infrequent usage in the first two-plus games of the season, Jabari Walker had earned a longer look at backup center on Saturday. Then came a left knee injury.

"Dean gives us some nice options, and I really liked the little segment when we had him and Jabari in together, and it was really going really good," Nurse said. "And then right away, Jabari tweaked his knee."

Ariel Hukporti injury looming large

All of the confusion and desperation at backup center, not even seven days into the season, begs the question: How nice would it be for the Sixers to have a young, athletic, energetic big with real size right now?

Ariel Hukporti's season-ending torn Achilles, suffered minutes into the team's preseason opener, remains a gutting blow – in part because the Sixers' options to add bigs from outside of the organization are extremely limited.

Heading into preseason, Nurse seemed optimistic about the idea of Bona and Hukporti battling it out for minutes, with both players eventually getting chances to prove themselves. Hukporti's injury removed that competition, but still applied more pressure to Bona, whose lack of preseason minutes has been evident.

After being bludgeoned on the boards by Detroit, Nurse was asked how his team can remedy its rebounding issues without having many bigs available. Perhaps that is an issue the Sixers would have an easier time focusing on with a 280-pound center like Hukporti in the mix.

"We've got to do it by committee. I mean, I think if you're missing some of your size and all that kind of stuff, obviously it becomes a problem. And all five guys got to rebound," Nurse said. "And I just look at the numbers there and the defensive rebounding from just across the board, no matter position, just aren't good enough. So it's like, everybody's got to chip in with a few more. That's got to be the answer, for sure."

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