It was a clash between two of the league's premier big men on Saturday night when the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Detroit Pistons at Wells Fargo Center. There was a ton of anticipation leading up to this matchup, as the two centers in the 76ers' Joel Embiid and the Pistons' Andre Drummond squared off against each other.
Down the stretch, it was the 76ers (13-9) who held off the Pistons (14-8) en route to a 108-103 victory. According to Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Embiid told his teammates that he was confident Drummond was going to eventually foul out of the game.
“Before this game, I told my teammates that he was going to foul out and he did. But it’s all fun. At the end of the game, we hugged it out,” Embiid said.
That's exactly what Drummond did, as he fouled Embiid with 2:35 remaining in regulation when the score was 98-95 in favor of Philadelphia. Drummond still had a solid double-double effort with 14 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a whopping five steals on defense.
Embiid, who got the last laugh tied with a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in the victory, reiterating that his trash talking was all in good sport.
“We're just having fun,” Embiid said. “I love having fun on social media. He does, too. We're just young kids having fun out there.”
Later on Saturday night, Embiid took to Twitter to reflect on his battle with Drummond.
Exciting and fun game tonight… Great battle against the big fella #TheProcess pic.twitter.com/mffqKID9Mh
— Joel “Troel” Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) December 3, 2017
The two centers will duel again on Jan. 5 when the 76ers host the Pistons at Wells Fargo Center. Be sure to grab your popcorn when the new year comes around, NBA fans.
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