Joel Embiid made his second start of the season and came out with a bang, outplaying Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond and ripping him afterward for daring to trash talk the social media king of the NBA.
“Defensively, he doesn’t play any defense,” Embiid said following the game, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “When we started the game, he was being aggressive and he was talking, too… So what I was like [in my mind] ‘You want to do that? I’m going to kick your [butt] then. So that’s what I did.”
The Philadelphia 76ers had their foot on the gas pedal, getting off to a 7-0 start — two buckets courtesy of The Process, who finished the quarter with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting.
Drummond kept trying to play a stand-and-bang game with Embiid, who boasts a versatile skill set, able to take his range to the three-point line, connecting efficiently.
“In my mind, I was like, ‘You want to switch up, because you are playing against me,’” Embiid said of Drummond. “‘You want to be all physical and talk [trash].’ So I was like, ‘you are going to get our [butt beat].’ I love that.”
The mismatch wasn't any more clear than when Embiid used his range to pump-fake Drummond in a three-point attempt, making him leap at him and getting an uncontested dunk for his troubles.
Embiid finished with 30 points on an efficient 11-of-15 shooting, along with nine rebounds and two steals in 28 minutes of playing time, draining 7-of-8 from the charity stripe for good measure.
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