Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond play well together?

When Doc Rivers suggested that he could one day play Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond on the court at the same time, it left many a fan of the Philadelphia 76ers with a grimaced face and an awkward laugh.

What was this, 2015? Were we really going to re-visit the days where the Sixers’ three best players were all centers, and Brett Brown had to figure out some way, any way, to keep the trio happy?

Did Rivers watch those Jahlil Okafor–Nerlens Noel minutes? I mean, probably not, but hey, he did coach against the duo during his seven-year run with Los Angeles’ other basketball team, so he at least sort of watched the duo attempt to form one really good player split over two different positions.

Well guess what? Rivers did, in fact, deploy the look in the Philadelphia 76ers’ Wednesday night bout against the Orlando Magic, and guess what? The look actually worked. Boy, talk about a New Year’s miracle.

Joel Embiid can apparently play with anyone on the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster.

If you didn’t catch the Philadelphia 76ers’ home away from home game in Orlando, allow me to set the scene.

With no healthy point guard on the roster save two-way Seaton Hall product Myles Powell, the Sixers were running some unusual lineups with either Seth Curry or Furkan Korkmaz running the show, and the team was predictably getting demolished on the boards by a Magic squad with a starting frontcourt with an average height of 6-foot-10.

Why, you may ask, is this predictable? Well, because the Sixers are one of the shortest teams in the NBA and just so happen to rank 30 overall in rebounding, which is a story for another article (this one, actually).

With Orlando consistently extending possessions with a potent mix of board crashing and box-outs, Doc Rivers decided to end the bleeding – and an Orlando run that put the Sixers at a seven-point deficit – by subbing Andre Drummond into the game… for Tobias Harris, not Joel Embiid.

Oh goodness, had his time in protocol made Rivers crazy? Did he lose a bet to his long-time friend? Or could he see what we all could see watching from home and simply decided right then and there that he was done getting out-rebounded by the worst team in the Eastern Conference?

Either way, the duo shared the court for roughly 3:30 in the third quarter and actually turned in a very good maiden showing. The Sixers held the Magic to only eight points, out-rebounded the Magic six to two, and ultimately left the quarter one point in the hole heading into the fourth.

Sidebar: Yes, technically Drummond and Embiid played together at the end of the Sixers’ game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 27 in the hopes of forcing a second overtime with a tipped-in missed free throw, but that was for about two seconds and doesn’t really count.

The look, which initially featured Korkmaz at the one, Curry at the two – or vice versa – and Niang at the three before Rivers subbed in Harris for Steph’s younger brother, probably shouldn’t be deployed every game, as again, the Magic feature a frontcourt of three center-sized players, but goodness, situationally, it worked very well, as it seemingly gave all three of the Sixers shooters a guaranteed screen on every shot and allowed Philly to dominate the rebounding game in a way they haven’t all season long.

But hey, why are we really surprised? I mean, think about it, Embiid has been playing around the perimeter as a floor spacer for years while paired up with Ben Simmons; why wouldn’t he be just as effective in the same role but with Drummond in the dunker spot? Call him a power forward, call the lineup the twin towers, but I call it a testament to Embiid’s supreme talents.

Who knows, maybe this new look will become a fixture of Doc Rivers’ rotation? I mean, it would certainly allow the veteran head coach to get Andre Drummond a few more minutes and present a look that very few opposing teams have the personnel to match up against. But if that were to happen, it’s because Joel Embiid is the best darn player in the world, not because two centers is the way of the future in the NBA. Philadelphia 76ers fans, the City of Brotherly Love has a good one.