Andre Drummond goes off for 25 points, 29 rebounds (Video)
Andre Drummond went off again on Tuesday night as the start of his 2015-16 season is reaching historic levels of awesome.
The Detroit Pistons have one of the most heralded fantasy basketball players in the NBA. Early in 2015-16, the fantasy is beginning to become a reality, as said player is tormenting teams with his pure dominance in the paint.
There’s simply no other way to put it: Andre Drummond has been a man amongst boys.
On Tuesday, November 3, Drummond took his game to an entirely different level. The Pistons fell to their division rivals, but Drummond manhandled the Indiana Pacers.
Drummond finished the contest with an absolutely obscene 25 points and 29 rebounds. He made 12 of his 17 field goal attempts and came up with three steals to round the effort out.
It’s the second time Drummond has gone for at least 25 points and 25 rebounds during a loss—something that put him in very rare company.
Drummond: 2 25-pt, 25-reb games in losses. Only other player over last 30 seasons with multiple 25-pt, 25-reb gms in losses: Hakeem Olajuwon
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 4, 2015
Any time you’re mentioned in the same breath as Hakeem Olajuwon, you’re doing something right—even if it does pertain to losing games.
For as surprising as Drummond’s dominance against the Pacers may be, it’s nothing close to out of nowhere. Not only has he done this before, but he’d already gone for 20 points and 20 rebounds in 2015-16.
Due to that explosive production, Drummond added another legend to the slate of players with whom he’s now associated:
ELIAS: Andre Drummond is 1st player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (75-76) w/multiple 20-pt/20-reb games in the team's 1st 4 games of the season
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 4, 2015
If being associated with Olajuwon is incredible, then there’s no adjective for what it means to share a distinction with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Not only has Drummond gone for 20 points and 20 rebounds twice in 2015-16, but he’s done it in consecutive games. In Detroit’s previous outing, he tallied 20 points and 20 rebounds in a 98-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
He clearly wasn’t ready to slow down against the Pacers.
That drop-step and drive was not a part of Drummond’s game a season ago. That’s a sign of his work ethic and limitless upside.
The question is, how far can he take it?
Drummond has always been a statistically impressive player. He has career averages of 12.2 points, 11.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on 56.7 percent shooting from the field, and he’s averaged at least 13.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in each of the past two seasons.
If this four-game stretch is a sign of things to come, however, the NBA is about to be put on notice.