With Andre Drummond benched, the Sixers suffer on the rebound

To assert yourself, against the KingsTHE Sixers they failed to build any dominance inside, grabbing just 24 rebounds. Very low total, which is not an accident but a symptom. Over the past 11 games, averaging 39.5 shots, Nick Nurse’s men are the worst rebounding team in the league.

“There are several factors. Sometimes it’s a question of size, athleticism, when you face stronger, more powerful players. Sometimes it’s a question of attention, details », advance Nick Nurse. “And other times, it’s generally defense. We get a few rebounds and the opponent rushes them.”

Another explanation may account for this decline because earlier in the season the Sixers didn’t have as much difficulty grabbing rebounds. However, for three weeks the coach decided to play less Andre Drummond, which could also leave in a few days.

Since January 12, the pivot has stepped on the floor only four times, a total of 57 minutes. And if there’s one area where the former Detroiter is competent, it’s rebounding. From the beginning of the season to the end of 2025, in 28 matches, he averaged 9.3 shots in just 21 minutes.

If Adem Bona is to replace Joel Embiid, he doesn’t have the talent of the former multiple-time best rebounder in the league. And if they want to go far in the playoffs, the Sixers cannot be dominated under circles like this.

“Playing small ball is also obviously a factor,” clarifies Nick Nurse, still on his team’s rebounding woes. “I think Drummond is facing pivots as strong and physical as they are in Sacramento. Facing a physical interior like that, you probably have to combine Joel Embiid and Bona or Drummond. Either way, do different things than what we did against the Kings, because we had a hard time rebounding.”

			Shots			Rebounds
Players	MJ	Min	Shots	3pts	LF	Off	Def	That	Pd	Bp	Int	Ct	Ft	Pts
Tyrese McKay	45	39:08	47.3	38.7	88.5	0.3	3.9	4.2	6.9	2.5	2.0	0.9	2.1	29.4
Joel Embiid	27	30:42	49.1	28.3	85.4	2.2	5.2	7.4	3.9	3.0	0.6	1.1	2.1	25.7
Paul George	27	30:31	42.4	38.2	85.5	0.5	4.6	5.1	3.7	1.6	1.5	0.5	2.2	16.0
Edgecombe Street	43	35:36	42.6	36.9	76.9	1.7	3.7	5.4	4.1	1.8	1.5	0.5	3.2	15.1
Kelly Oubre Jr.	25	32:02	49.2	36.5	74.2	0.8	3.6	4.4	1.3	1.3	1.2	0.7	2.6	14.0
Quentin Grimes	43	30:31	43.3	34.4	85.9	0.6	3.2	3.8	3.7	2.0	1.0	0.4	2.0	13.3
Dominick Barlow	37	23:34	55.3	26.4	77.0	2.1	2.8	4.8	1.3	0.8	0.9	0.6	2.1	7.9
Andre Drummond	37	19:34	50.0	36.2	63.3	3.4	5.3	8.7	0.8	0.9	0.5	0.9	2.0	6.8
Jared McCain	34	17:05	37.7	35.8	88.0	0.1	2.0	2.1	1.6	0.8	0.6	0.1	1.1	6.7
Trendon Watford	25	15:19	50.5	40.0	73.5	0.7	2.5	3.2	2.6	1.0	0.3	0.2	2.0	5.8
Eric Gordon	6	12:20	57.1	57.1	50.0	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.2	0.5	5.5
Justin Edwards	36	14:30	39.1	33.7	89.5	0.5	1.1	1.5	1.1	0.6	0.6	0.2	1.5	4.8
Jabari Walker	42	12:39	41.4	27.0	72.7	1.2	2.0	3.2	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3	1.7	3.9
Adem Bona	38	16:27	57.6	40.0	66.1	1.7	2.2	3.9	0.2	0.7	0.3	1.4	2.1	3.9
John Broome	8	5:08	20.0	0.0	50.0	0.8	0.9	1.6	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.6	1.3
Kyle Lowry	6	7:30	25.0	25.0	0	0.0	0.5	0.5	1.2	0.3	0.2	0.0	0.5	1.0
Hunter Sallis	7	3:43	60.0	0	50.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.6	0.7	0.0	0.1	0.3	1.0