Sixers praise Andre Drummond for dominant game in win over Kings

The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves in a familiar spot on this road trip again on Monday. While being shorthanded once again, they were in a close game in the fourth quarter with the Sacramento Kings and they needed something to go their way.

The Kings had built a 9-point lead as veteran big man Tristan Thompson took advantage of the fact that there was no Andre Drummond in the middle due to foul trouble and he attacked the glass the way he normally does. Young big man Charles Bassey was just no match for the aggressive Thompson like that.

Drummond then came back in and he made a huge impact on the game. He pulled down 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter alone, on his way to 23 for the game, and four of those rebounds were on the offensive glass. The Sixers were able to come away with a 102-94 win on the road.

“Tristan Thompson grabbed a lot of rebounds and when I subbed back in, I walked past him, I said ‘That [expletive] is dead. You’re not getting no more. That’s over with’,” laughed Drummond after the win. “I don’t think he grabbed another one since then. They had to sub him out.”

Thanks to Drummond’s efforts, the Sixers were able to hold the Kings to just 12 points in the fourth quarter. While he did not block any shots in the final 12 minutes, he did a terrific job of contesting shots and altering a lot of what Sacramento was doing.

“We didn’t let go the rope,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Guys hung in there. 12 points is what they scored in the fourth quarter. The one thing they are is a good offensive team so for us to do that, it was pretty special…Drummond, by the way, he dominated the last five minutes of that game. Like absolutely dominant. That’s what we need from him. He was unbelievable.”

Drummond’s efforts really allowed Philadelphia to be able to come away with extra shots and be able to close this game out. Whenever they would have a miss, there was the big man to pull down a board and allow the Sixers to have an…