PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were able to walk away with a 125-121 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday to open the home schedule, thanks in part to the heroics of Andre Drummond. The Sixers couldn’t have Joel Embiid late as he reached his minutes restriction in the third and coach Nick Nurse had to pull him for the rest of the night.

After the Hornets took advantage of the smaller Adem Bona, the Sixers turned to Drummond and he made a difference against Hornets big man Ryan Kalkbrenner down low. Drummond grabbed 13 rebounds while playing the final 15:48 of the game. Six of those rebounds were offensive and he also had seven points with three rebounds and two steals. He provided a ton of energy in a time the Sixers needed it and they were able to come away with a win.

Afterward, multiple members of the Sixers stepped forward to make sure the 2-time All-Star got his flowers:

Joel Embiid on Drummond

“Great. Extremely happy for him. Last year, everybody had a tough year, but just trying to figure out how everybody fits in and helps. Extremely happy for him. Proud of him. Great effort and we wouldn’t have won that game without him so it was good to see. That was the Drummond we wanted back two years ago and just need to keep doing it every night.”

VJ Edgecombe on Drummond

“He gave us big minutes, man. He came in, he rebounded. I think he had plus-10 rebounds, something like that. He came in big minutes, big buckets, big stops, but we all know what he can do. He was an All-Star on that. So, credit to Drum.”

Quentin Grimes on Drummond

“He changed the game, and then Justin as well. Justin (Edwards) came in, made three big 3s for us. Drum is a Hall of Fame rebounder. You know what I mean? He’s known for that. We can’t even box mine in practice. So, we know once he got in the game, he’s going to be able to—you got to send two guys on the rebound…He’s one of the guys that when he comes in the game, he’s just a big body, big presence, and he’s going to get a rebound and make it easy for us to get out in transition.”

Coach Nick Nurse on Drummond

“That’s one of those where you’re thrilled because he played so well and you got the result, and you’re wondering why you didn’t use him earlier, right? We knew we were gonna have to use him again. Joel was down to only a few minutes in the second half. So, it was coming eventually. It was just time to try and find some spark of energy, and he certainly provided it, because all of a sudden the rebounding got a lot easier, and on offense some extra possessions, and all that stuff. He certainly made a couple good contributions on some of the defense—the defense was tough. Those guards are really talented, quick, and strong, and getting downhill the lane a lot. We had to come up with a couple different coverages there late and he made a couple plays on that, too. He knocked the ball away a couple times. So, he had a huge game.”