Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding – Yahoo Sports

The Sixers knew they’d have to be a better rebounding team than they have in recent seasons. After finishing in the bottom 10 for the past couple of seasons, it was something that Nick Nurse stressed quite a bit throughout training camp.

They had plenty of problems in their first loss of the season to the Detroit Pistons. Jaylen Brown shot 5-of-20 from the field and the team as a whole came out of the gate slow, very much looking like a group that was playing their third game in four days.

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With Joel Embiid resting on the second half of a back-to-back, it showed how dire the situation on the glass can be when he is out of the lineup. Starting a 41-year old LeBron James at center, the Sixers were out rebounded 54-37 by a Pistons team without starting center Jalen Duren in the lineup. They surrendered 15 offensive rebounds which led to 24 second-chance points.

Of course Embiid wasn’t the only missing Sixer in the front court. Jabari Walker missed the game with knee soreness after tweaking it the night before and Dominick Barlow has yet to play this season with a lumbar spine injury. Even Tacko Fall, who was converted to a two-way contract at the end of the preseason, has yet to see any action as he’s dealing with a quad injury.

Tyrese Maxey made note after the game that those reinforcements coming back should help them a lot.

“Some of our tall guys can come back, that would be great,” he said.

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LeBron James referenced one of his old teammates, Taurean Prince, trying to hammer home that sometimes it’s as simple as going up and getting it.

“The ball goes up in the air,” James said, “and you go grab it.”

Both Maxey and James know the Sixers need to do more than just that. So does Nick Nurse, who’s trying to find ways for this team to finish possessions with the guys he has available.

“All five guys got to rebound. I just look at the numbers there and the defensive rebounding, just across the board, no matter position, just aren’t good enough,” Nurse said after the game, “so, everybody’s got to chip in with a few more.”

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Even when Walker and Barlow are back, the only true center on the…

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Publish date : 2026-10-26 13:57:00

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