As the Philadelphia 76ers have slowly ascended to their current standing as an up and coming playoff team in the Eastern Conference, the confidence instilled by center Joel Embiid has played a role in their improvement. In his short career, Embiid has learned how to master getting under the skin of his opponents, giving himself and his team a psychological edge.
A prime example of this sprouting tendency for Embiid is his recent war of words with Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond. The two battled it out as the marquee matchup in an October game between the two clubs, a contest the 76ers ended up taking 97-86.
Following the game in which Embiid dropped 30 points, he called out Drummond’s defense. Drummond then took to Twitter to let it be known exactly what he thought of Embiid and what he had to say:
See you Dec 2nd?
— Andre Drummond (@AndreDrummond) October 24, 2017
That sequence of events put a circle on December 2nd and after nearly a month and a half, the day is finally upon us. Asked about the looming rematch during this morning’s shoot around, and of course, Embiid couldn’t resist adding a little more fuel to the flame. Following from NBC Philly’s Marshall Harris:
Joel Embiid on Andre Drummond and why he's not worried about him.
You know someone is about to be disrespected when they start with, "No disrespect but…" #Sixers. pic.twitter.com/rAbvjglS81
— Marshall Harris (@mharrisNBCS) December 2, 2017
Though it’s obvious that Drummond doesn’t have much of an outside stroke, Embiid is still doing what he can to sneak in another jab and get into his opponent’s head. That being said, Drummond wasn’t about to take those comments without some retaliation of his own. Following from Johnny Kane of Fox Sports Detroit:
In response to Embiid, Drummond told me, "I mean you can't really have a conversation with a man who can't play a back-to-back… I've been playing for six years and I've missed maybe 4-5 games. So when he can play a whole season without taking a rest, he can come talk to me."
— Johnny Kane (@JohnnyKaneFSD) December 2, 2017
With the back and forth ongoing through the day of the matchup, we could expect the theatrics between the two bigs to be on full display tonight. Though there are other names worthy of mention, Embiid and Drummond rank right near the very top when it comes to the best centers in the Eastern Conference. Both have vastly different skill sets but are equally dominant at what they do best.
In their October 23rd contest, Embiid tallied 30 points and 9 rebounds while it was Drummond who posted the double-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 steals. With so much attention now focused towards this bruising matchup, the two 7-footers will likely battle it out in the paint all night long.
