The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their first loss of the 2026-27 NBA season on Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. It was a tough 106-93 loss, especially because they were struggling with their rebounding.

Detroit resoundingly won the rebounding battle, 54 to the 76ers' 37. Of course, this was mostly because the 76ers did not have their big men. Joel Embiid had to sit out the game due to plantar fasciitis injury management, and LeBron James started at center.

Tyrese Maxey gets real about the 76ers' biggest problem in the 2026-27 season

The 76ers tried their best, but their center problems might be a long-term issue for this season. Head coach Nick Nurse elected to start LeBron James against the Pistons, while keeping Adem Bona in his off-the-bench role.

They were quite short-handed because they did not have Embiid or Jabari Walker, while also having a long-term injury to supposed back-up center Ariel Hukporti. This eventually became the issue that led to them losing against the Pistons.

MORE: LeBron James' honest reaction about starting at center for the 76ers

Detroit did not have Jalen Duren due to a hamstring injury, but the Pistons replaced his rebounding through a team-wide effort. John Collins led the team with 11 rebounds, but Ron Holland II, Paul Reed, Cade Cunningham, and Daniss Jenkins all chipped in with at least eight rebounds.

This led to Maxey speaking after the game about having these rebounding troubles. He made fun of the situation, but there is still a lot of truth to what he was saying.

"If some of our tall guys could come back, that would be great. We gotta hit, box out, try to fight, man, gotta figure it out. When the ball come off the rim, gotta do whatever we got to do to get that rebound," Maxey said after the loss to Detroit.

Moving forward, both the coaches and the front office must find a way to address this issue. James should not be playing center for extended periods even if he is willing to play that role. He could get injured through that, so finding the right balance with the centers is a priority.

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