PHILADELPHIA _ The actual outcome of Saturday night's matchup between the 76ers and Detroit Pistons at Wells Fargo Center was a cliff note.
The individual matchup between Joel Embiid and the Pistons' Andre Drummond was the actual story in the Sixers' 108-103 victory.
The two centers had been in a war of words since Drummond started trash talking to Embiid in their Oct. 23 meeting on Detroit. They basically played to a standstill.
Embiid finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and six turnovers en route to his sixth straight double-double and 12th of the season. However, he made just 7 of his 21 shots. Fifteen of his points came in the first half when Drummond wasn't effective at all. But Drummond woke up in the fourth quarter, scoring 6 of his 14 points before Embiid fouled him out with 2 minutes, 35 seconds left. Drummond also had 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals.
The Sixers big man waved goodbye to Drummond at the foul line before attempting his shots. He made both to put his squad up, 100-95. Then Dario Saric added a 3-pointer to extend the Sixers' lead to eight (103-95) with 1:40 to play.
Then after Detroit trimmed the lead to three, JJ Redick hit a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers a 108-105 advantage with 6.0 seconds remaining. The Pistons (14-8) turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. Then the Sixers (13-9) ran the final seconds off the clock.
Sixers rookie Ben Simmons finished with five points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and four turnovers, and Robert Covington broke out of his shooting slump with 25 points while making 6 of 13 3-pointers.
Pistons forward Tobias Harris led all scorers with 27 points.
But the focus was on Embiid and Drummond.
After scoring 30 points the first game, Embiid said he used Drummond's trash talking in that game as motivation.
"When we started the game, he was being aggressive and he was talking, too," Embiid said that night "... 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."
Drummond responded to that comment the next morning with a tweet that read, 'See you Dec. 2nd..'
Then he had more to say after the Pistons' loss to the Washington Wizards in D.C. Friday night.
"I mean you can't really have a conversation with a man who can't play a back-to-back," he told Fox Sports Detroit of Embiid not being cleared to play on consecutive nights.
"I've been playing for six years and I've missed maybe 4-5 games," he added. "So when he can play a whole season without taking a rest, he can come talk to me."
Embiid tried to take the high road Saturday morning, not knowing what Drummond said the night before. However, he did acknowledge that Oct. 24 tweet proved he was in Drummond's head.
"For them to go on social media and just start talking ... whatever, saying something or whatever, I think I already got them," Embiid said.
But he wanted the attention on the matchup between the Sixers and the Pistons. It was for about 15 seconds. Then Embiid was asked how difficult it is to guard Drummond, who has played more from the elbow this season.
"No disrespect, but he can't shoot," he said. "So I just got to worry about the defensive coverages that we have as a team. They run a lot of back screens and backside action. He's also a roller. So he gets a lot of lobs and stuff."
That set the stage for what many thought would be an exciting head-to-head battle.
The Sixers blew an 18-point third-quarter lead and trailed 84-82 after Drummond's dunk with 10 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. However, they regained the lead for good after Saric's 3-pointer with 6:06 left.
The team honored longtime executive advisor Sonny Hill with a surprise tribute in the first quarter. With Sixers legend and Hall of Famer Allen Iverson on hand, the Sixers celebrated Hill's nearly 60 years of contribution to hoops, the Philly community and the Sixers organization.
