Nerlens Noel and Chris Johnson battle for a board.
By Sam Bush
It was an ugly finish to a preseason that unfortunately portends a regular season that will be not much better.
Kyle Singler scored 19 points and Josh Smith added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons beat the Sixers 109-103 in an exhibition game Thursday night.
Detroit (5-2) was missing three rotation members — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Jennings and Jodie Meeks — while the Sixers (2-6) used a rag-tag roster in the final preseason game for both teams.
Each team had six players score in double figures, with Henry Sims leading the 76ers with 17 points. D.J. Augustin had 11 points and 11 assists for Detroit.
The Pistons led 58-57 after a first half that was played without much defensive intensity. Detroit shot 53.8 percent, and Philly hit 52.8 percent of its shots.
Hollis Thompson led the 76ers with 12, while Tony Wroten had nine points, six rebounds and five assists.
Detroit led by as many as 13 in the third, but couldn’t put away an inexperienced group of Philly reserves.
The Sixers led 93-91 with 4 minutes left, but a Smith 3-pointer with 90 seconds broke a 99-99 tie, and the Pistons held on to win.
