Traditional back to the basket centers are a dying breed in today’s fast-paced, guard/forward-dominated league. There are only a handful of centers who know how to play in the low post and still make a short jumper. Last week, two of the NBA’s best big men went head-to-head as the Philadelphia 76ers traveled to the Motor City to face the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons won the ball game 133-132 in overtime as Blake Griffin took the spotlight.

Though Griffin and his 50 points were the story of the night, Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond had their fair share of highlights, battling in the painted area. Drummond and Embiid are two of the most skilled centers in the game.

But who’s better?

As with any heated match up involving Embiid, the game-within-the-game made the Sixers vs. Pistons face off even more entertaining. In one sequence, after Embiid made a basket, Drummond turned to walk back on offense but extended his arm a bit.

As soon as he did, Embiid dropped to the floor as if he was hit with a haymaker! Of course, that was a flop and everyone watching knew it. The referees called a technical foul on Drummond and he was thrown out of the game for his second with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

Though the encounter became comical with Embiid being warned by the league for flopping, there was no love lost between these behemoths. The Pistons center boldly declared that he was in Drummond’s head.

“I think I own a lot of real estate in his head,” Embiid said. “We lost, so I'm not supposed to talk trash, but he knows damn well that he can't guard me.”

Drummond responded on Twitter:

These two have a history of going at it already. Let’s check out their stats from the game:

Embiid’s stats:

33 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, 11-of-20 FGs, 11-of-14 FTs

Drummond’s stats:

14 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, three steals, two blocks, 6-of-20 FGs, 2-of-4 FTs

Their final statistics are quite indicative of how their career stats are comparatively. Each player shot 20 field goals with Drummond struggling mightily against Embiid’s defense as he made only 30 percent of his shots. He’s not exactly a volume shooter or scorer, but it’s interesting to note that in this game, the Pistons big man tried to match Embiid shot for shot.

Here’s a look at their career stats and 2018-19 stats, and in which category one of them is dominating the other.

Scoring

Andre Drummond: 13.6 points; 18.4 (2018-19)

Joel Embiid: 22.4 points; 26.4 points (2018-19)

Andre Drummond Joel Embiid

Embiid is the more polished scorer between the two. He can make jumpers and, sometimes, three-pointers. His low post moves are reminiscent of some of the best centers in history. He is as strong as any center but he moves with finesse that would make forwards blush with shame. He is averaging 26.4 points this season which is the highest of his young career.

Drummond, on the other hand, is more mechanical. His current 18.4 points average is a career high so he is getting better at putting the ball in the basket. But he is far from the scorer that Embiid is now and what the University of Kansas alum can be in the future.

Advantage: Embiid

Rebounding

Andre Drummond: 13.4 rebounds (career); 15.8 (2018-19)

Joel Embiid: 10.1 rebounds (career); 11.9 (2018-19)

The mark of a great center is the ability to block out and crash the boards. It’s almost a sin for a 7-footer not to be able to average at least 10 caroms a night. On that note, both Drummond and Embiid are excellent rebounders. The two are among the best board crashers in the game and should be so in the next five more years at least.

But the better rebounder between them is Drummond. He has led the league in rebounding average twice and in total rebounds three times. His career 13.4 rebounds average is tops among all active players. He also has 53 20-rebound games, the most in the NBA since 2010.

As talented as Embiid is, this is one category in which Drummond can be among the best ever while the Sixers big man can only look on in amazement.

Advantage: Drummond

andre drummond, joel embiid

Assists

Andre Drummond: 1.1 (career); 1.2 (2018-19)

Joel Embiid: 2.9 (career); 4.1 (2018-19)

Drummond is never going to win this category. His career and 2018-19 averages are about the same and it’s bad. No problem. He’s not counted on to initiate the offense anyway, so if you give him the basketball you have to make sure that he is in a scoring position right away.

There’s no question that Embiid wins this hands down. In his rookie year, he averaged 2.1 assists, then improved to 3.2 last year. Now he’s up to 4.1 this season. He’s more reliable with the ball in his hands than Drummond. There’s no question that Embiid is the better assist man of the two.

Advantage: Embiid

Blocks

Andre Drummond: 1.5 (career); 1.3 (2018-19)

Joel Embiid: 2.0 (career); 2.1 (2018-19)

One of the most important jobs for big men is to protect the paint. Teams can’t let opponents walk into the paint and give up easy points so they rely on their centers for rim protection. Centers are expected to do this job right or else other teams will be scoring like the Warriors against them nightly.

Joel Embiid

Embiid is the more intimidating presence when it comes to defending the paint from nightly incursions by guards and forwards while keeping the centers from getting too many easy buckets.

What Drummond is good at is boxing out his opponent and keeping him off the glass. But blocks are keeping the other team’s penetrators from getting quick buckets and in this category, Embiid is simply better.

Advantage: Embiid

Steals

Andre Drummond: 1.3 (career); 0.8 (2018-19)

Joel Embiid: 0.7 (career); 0.3 (2018-19)

This isn’t exactly the category in which to measure how good a center is, but some of the best ones are good at swiping the ball every now and then. Hakeem Olajuwon was the first and only center in NBA history to be in the top 10 all-time in steals and he had more than 200 steals in one season to go along with more than 200 blocks, too.

Drummond, while not as good as Olajuwon, is close. He averages more than a steal per game for his career. He routinely puts some guards to shame by how well he is able to poke the ball from his opponents.

Embiid isn’t as proficient in this category and he appears to have regressed this season with a 0.3 average.

Drummond wins this battle.

Advantage: Drummond

Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, Pistons
CP

Durability

Andre Drummond: 469 of 498 games (7 seasons)

Joel Embiid: 102 of 336 games (5 seasons)

The biggest advantage that Drummond has over Embiid is his durability. In five of his six previous seasons, the University of Connecticut product played 78 games once, 81 games three times, and a full 82 games once. You can count on him to be there on the floor night in and night out.

Not so with Embiid.

If there is anything that Embiid has struggled with mightily, it’s injuries. He missed his first two seasons due to health problems and he played only 31 games his during his rookie year in 2016-17. Last year, he played in only 63 games as he sat out some games to keep him healthy throughout the year and to keep him fresh for the playoffs.

Drummond is always in shape and will be in the lineup faithfully if there is a game to be played.

Advantage: Drummond

Joel Embiid

Conclusion

Drummond and Embiid are All-Stars and are likely to stay that way for the next decade or so. They dominate the game in the way that big men are supposed to. Embiid is the more flamboyant of the two while Drummond appears to be more business-like in his approach to the game.

Drummond works hard and you can tell from his progress over the past few years that he is still improving and getting much, much better. His work ethic is excellent and with a new coach on the sideline this season, he will be even better in the years to come. As a comparison to the greatest big men in the league, he could have a career similar to that of Willis Reed, Nate Thurmond, Artis Gilmore, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning.

However, Embiid is the better player of the two. His ability to score, rebound and protect the paint changes the way other teams play. His ceiling is much higher than Drummond’s and he is getting better at the things he is already good at. Embiid is a franchise center in the mold of the legendary centers of the game. He already has games in his career that match those of the all-time greats. If he works on his game every summer (he’s only 24 years old), we may include his name among the top centers in history along with Olajuwon, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and so on. He’s that good.

The only thing keeping Embiid from taking that next step is his health. Will he be able to play injury-free for most of his career? Or will he be like Bill Walton who should have been in the top 10 centers in league annals, but whose career was ravaged by injuries after a strong start? Drummond is the more durable of the two and may overtake Embiid if and only if the latter doesn’t stay healthy.

But if I were to pick a center for my team and my only choices are Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, I’d take Embiid.