April 25, 2026
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Adem Bona's first three playoff games have made up quite an adventure.
PHILADELPHIA – On a night Sixers head coach Nick Nurse decided only eight of his 14 available players could be trusted, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla expanded his rotation to 10 players. As the game hung in the balance in its final minutes, nine of Mazzulla's players – Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, Nikola Vučević, Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh – had already grabbed at least one offensive rebound.
The Sixers' defensive rebounding has been an issue all year long. And while it was not the lone cause of Friday's heartbreaking Game 3 loss to the Celtics, it was perhaps the most obvious. Boston rebounded 15 of its 45 misses, and opportunities stemming from those boards led to 22 of the Celtics' 108 points.
"Our guys played their butts off," Nurse said after the game. "It wasn't like they weren't giving effort to try to get those rebounds. They were trying as best as they could."
Yet during the game's most consequential possession, with the Celtics leading by three points and about 40 seconds left on the game clock, Vučević missed a corner three and White snuck in for his second offensive rebound of the game.
The ball swung a few times after that, and the only Celtic to not record an offensive rebound put the game away. In an instant, Jayson Tatum was pounding his chest, having just connected on the triple that sealed a Celtics victory:
The Celtics rebounded 1/3 of their misses in the Sixers' Game 3 loss on Friday night, with this play from Derrick White leading to Jayson Tatum's dagger: pic.twitter.com/yZmE7Yi4jS
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) April 25, 2026
The Sixers remain incapable of consistently limiting opposing possessions to one look. Paul George said that many of the offensive rebounds the Sixers allowed came via bad bounces, but acknowledged the team has to be better on that front. Andre Drummond, one of the best rebounders of a generation, said the Sixers' perimeter players need to "check for [their] man," pointing out that many of the offensive rebounds the Sixers allow come from guards, not bigs.
VJ Edgecombe echoed that sentiment, and rebounding is a collective effort. But for as long as Embiid is out, there will be particular attention paid to Drummond and Adem Bona, who for the entire season have gone from starting to coming off the bench to not playing at all based on matchups and Embiid's ever-changing status. It has been a tremendous challenge for both players. Both had strong moments on Friday, but neither played a well-rounded game and neither was able to put an end to the team's troubles on the glass.
"The second chance points is what got us today," Drummond said. "I think other than that, we played a very well-rounded game. It was a very intense game, a fun game for us to play in. We get those second chance points off the board, I think we win the game."
The Sixers might have also won the game had they not allowed 26 points during Drummond's first eight minutes of action. He has come off the bench in this series, and it is a bit confounding.
Not only has Drummond been better than Bona for weeks, but he has considerably more trust from his coaches. By bringing Drummond off the bench, Nurse is signing him up to face his old teammate in Vučević, a respected three-point shooting threat.
When Vučević or Garza is on the floor over Queta, Boston can go to a five-out offense that punishes vulnerable perimeter defenders. That is what happened during the Sixers' ill-fated eight-minute stretch in the first half. It is the worst possible environment for Drummond, far from the fleetest of foot. His limitations were evident during that stretch, and he finished the night -17 in 26 minutes – with 20 of those minutes coming against either Vučević or Garza.
Neither Sixers center available right now is perfect. Nurse has continued to insist his team will need contributions from both guys whenever asked to compare their minutes. But the reality is that, for all of his flaws, there is more comfort with Drummond because there is greater security that comes with someone who is not learning on the fly. The Sixers know what they are getting from him – for better or worse.
Bona's first two games in Boston were brutal; he made silly mistakes and missed shots around the rim. He played a successful opening stint in Game 3, but it came to an end with a tough sequence: Bona got caught in no man's land, Pritchard made a three at the end of the shot clock, Nurse immediately turned to his bench and Drummond approached the scorer's table
While Bona had some tremendous highs on Friday – a few emphatic dunks and impressive blocks – he also had some tough lows, namely silly fouls and unforced errors on the defensive end of the floor. His fifth foul, committed during a scramble far from the basket with Boston's shot clock dwindling, was mentioned after the game by both Nurse and Tyrese Maxey as a turning point in the game.
All the while, the Sixers were clearly better with Bona on the floor. Nurse acknowledged as much after the game. What he did not say, but was fairly clear: he just could not trust Bona in the highest-leverage minutes. Whenever a highlight play was followed up by a mistake, Nurse was ready to make a change. So it was Drummond who closed, and Bona, a +9 in 22 minutes, who spent most of the night receiving an earful from his teammates.
Bona's teammates get on him, and sometimes it is a lot. They all appreciate his willingness to listen and not argue. "He understands that it's coming from a place of care, and we want to see him be better and get better," said Drummond, who has taken Bona under his wing during the youngster's first two NBA seasons. It is a tough ask of Bona to not take heat-of-the-moment screaming personally. Maxey nearly lost his cool after that fifth personal. But Bona manages.
"I understand whatever they say to me is for my best," Bona said. "I don't think they're going to try to steer me in the wrong direction, so it's not about how the message is delivered, it's what message was delivered."
Embiid, who was initially listed as doubtful to play on Friday before being ruled out about two hours prior to tip-off, could be back on the court for Sunday's Game 4. It would simplify this picture in so many ways, including that Nurse could just have one backup center – likely Drummond.
Or, still only 17 days removed from an emergency appendectomy at that point, Embiid might sit again. It is predictably challenging to forecast.
What is certain: if the 2025-26 Sixers want to make a legitimate playoff push, it will not be possible without positive contributions from both Drummond and Bona. Each of them has played a volatile sample of minutes across three playoff games, but their confidence in themselves and each other to come through in the biggest games of the season has not wavered.
"We're playing fine," Drummond said. "I think Bona's doing great. Myself, obviously I've had experience in the playoffs."
What has to happen next?
"Just staying poised, staying ready, paying attention to details, knowing the scouting report and taking care of the little things," Drummond said, "like grabbing these rebounds."
