Vintage Andre Drummond rescues Sixers, and he could be a reserve center option: ‘I felt like myself’

Andre Drummond secured the rebound off Tyrese Maxey’s missed free throw, then fought through contact to convert underneath the basket. The big man pounded his chest with both hands near the 76ers’ bench, a fire lit under himself and his team in the midst of another double-digit rally.

“That’s what I’ve been paid for my entire career,” Drummond said. “It doesn’t take much for me to get to that point where I want to get every rebound.”

Drummond grabbed 13 boards in 15 consecutive minutes to end the game — and added seven points, two assists, and two steals — in the Sixers’ 125-121 comeback victory over the Charlotte Hornets in Saturday night’s home opener. The vintage performance rescued the Sixers on a night when former MVP Joel Embiid remained on a strict minutes restriction, backup Adem Bona struggled, and forward Dominick Barlow exited the game with an injury.

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And though Drummond entered this season mostly viewed by outsiders as a rotation afterthought — at least partially due to a turf toe injury that sapped much of a disappointing 2024-25 season — the effort signaled that the 32-year-old may still be a viable option while Embiid works his way back.

“I felt normal. I felt like myself,” Drummond said at his locker after the game. “I was able to move the way I wanted to move. Reaction time was there, just the spring in my jumps and how fast I was moving. Felt good to feel like myself again.”

Embiid (20 points, four assists, two steals) was significantly more effective against the Hornets than in Wednesday’s opener at the Boston Celtics — but burned through 15 of his 20 allotted minutes in the first half. That left him with only one third-quarter stint before he emerged during the final period wearing a hoodie and an ice pack on his surgically repaired left knee.

Against the Celtics, coach Nick Nurse chose a small-ball lineup featuring Barlow and Jabari Walker to finish off their first win. But that was not an option Saturday, when Barlow did not return after halftime because of an elbow laceration. Bona, meanwhile, played 12 minutes but recorded only one point with no rebounds.

So Nurse turned to Drummond, who played less than three minutes in Boston, with 3 minutes, 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Sixers trailing by eight points. He had four rebounds before the end of that frame.

Early in the fourth, Drummond swiped the ball from Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel and quickly dished the pass ahead to Kelly Oubre Jr. for a dunk, prompting teammate VJ Edgecombe to chest-bump Drummond heading into a timeout. Drummond later found Oubre again for a three-pointer that cut the Hornets’ lead to 112-105 with 5:23 to play, then sank a difficult turnaround hook shot about a minute later. He pulled down nine more rebounds during the period, including six on the offensive glass.

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And when Drummond flew in to clean up Maxey’s driving miss with a two-handed, rim-rocking slam — which gave the Sixers a 117-116 lead with 2:13 remaining — the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd exploded.

“You’re wondering why you didn’t use him earlier, to be honest,” Nurse said of Drummond. “ … I just thought it was time to try to find some spark of energy, and he certainly provided it. Because, all of a sudden, the rebounding got a lot easier and [got us] some offensive extra possessions.”

It was reminiscent of the prime version of Drummond, who was a two-time All-Star and four-time league rebounding leader. He also was once the backup center Embiid called the best he has ever had, before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the 2022 package in the Ben Simmons-James Harden blockbuster.

Rejoining the Sixers during 2024 free agency was a celebrated complementary move. But, like so many aspects of the Sixers’ woeful 2024-25 season, Drummond’s role never materialized. He missed 42 games, mostly with that nagging toe injury, and largely did not look like the same player whenever he was on the floor.

Drummond said on media day that he felt like he let down himself, his team, and the city — and “took that personal.” During his offseason reflection, he concluded that he spent too much time last season overthinking and “worried about manipulating the game in a way that I wanted it to work for me.” He shifted his focus to rediscovering his joy while playing the sport.

“I’m in a place now where I’m just happier,” Drummond said following the Sixers’ Oct. 10 preseason game against the Orlando Magic. “I’m excited to be here. I told my team — I told the coaching staff, too — whatever it is they need from me to help this team win, I’m more than willing to do it. And I think they’re seeing that. I’ll continue to put my best foot forward.”

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Another offseason goal: getting into better physical shape to be ready to play stretches like Friday’s. He cut back on cheat meals — the Asian fusion restaurant Nobu is his guilty pleasure — and spent more time running. To help heal his injury, he adopted “toe yoga.” During his pregame routine, he rolls out an acupuncture mat at his locker and stands on the tiny spikes to relieve any stiffness in his feet.

“That’s what helped me speed the [recovery] process up,” Drummond said.

Drummond has learned to adopt the “stay ready” mindset in recent seasons, as his playing time began fluctuating.

From the bench, he watches the game flow and nuances recognizable to his veteran eye, such as defensive communication lapses or moments to set (or not set) screens. He is not shy about passing advice on to Bona, if the second-year big man receives the initial reserve minutes. And regularly sitting next to Drummond is second-year wing Justin Edwards, who is in a similar fringe rotation spot and now a beneficiary of the big man’s encouragement.

“Bro, don’t lose yourself in this,” Drummond tells Edwards, who finished Saturday with nine points in 12 key second-half minutes. “It’s a game of runs. It’s a game that changes often.”

Saturday, it did. Drummond emphasized that he was not the only player who fueled the Sixers’ second consecutive comeback win. Quentin Grimes hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 15 seconds left, and finished with 24 points off the bench. Maxey (28 points, nine assists) and Edgecombe (15 points, eight assists) continue to form a dynamic guard tandem. Oubre (19 points on 7-of-10 shooting) was a team-high plus-18.

But after the Hornets’ Tre Mann missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 12.1 seconds to play, Drummond grabbed the game-sealing rebound.

It was — again — vintage Drummond.

“Wouldn’t have won that game without him,” Embiid said. “… That’s the Drummond that we wanted back two years ago.”