Getty Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
It didn’t take long on Thursday night for the Philadelphia 76ers to become the subject of controversy. Less than three minutes in and with the game knotted at four, Nets big man Nic Claxton went up for an alley-oop over Joel Embiid. The Sixers’ center cratered to the floor, leaving Claxton to try an Allen Iverson-esque stepover on the presumptive MVP.
Embiid did not appreciate the gesture. Before Claxton could complete the stepover, Embiid raised his legs and kicked Claxton’s legs out from under him.
Embiid received a flagrant 1 for the kick, keeping him in the game and avoiding an ejection. After the Sixers defeated Brooklyn 102-97, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn called out the foul, questioning how Embiid was allowed to stay in the game.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career before,” Vaughn told reporters after the game, per the YES Media YouTube channel. “For a guy to intentionally kick someone in an area that none of us want to be kicked at or towards, and for him to continue to play. I’ve never seen that before. In a game and a guy continues to play – intentional.”
Whether Embiid should have been ejected was the subject of debate following the game, especially in the context of Draymond Green‘s controversial ejection in Warriors-Kings Game Two.
Nic Claxton Sounds Off on Joel Embiid No-Call
And though Claxton believed Embiid deserved to be ejected, he relished the opportunity to continue battling Embiid.
“I thought he was going to be kicked out the game,” he told reporters. “But they said it was a Flagrant 1. So, it is what it is. It’s not my job to referee. … It’s just all a part of the game. I just gotta control what I can control. Honestly, as a competitor, I was glad he stayed in the game so I could match up and have some good reps against him.”
Claxton finished with 18 points, the most he’s scored in the series, and a nice comeback after getting blanked in Game Two.
For his part, Claxton was later ejected after receiving his second technical foul for taunting during the fourth quarter. But he wasn’t the only one to receive an ejection in Game Three.
James Harden Questions Ejection Versus Nets
With seconds left in the third quarter, Harden attempted to blow by Nets wing Royce O’Neil, throwing an elbow in the latter’s groin in the process. The foul earned Harden a flagrant 2 foul and an early trip to the showers.
Harden expressed his confusion over the flagrant 2 call after the game.
“I didn’t even think it was a foul on me,” Harden said, via Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice on Twitter. “It wasn’t like a wind-up elbow, none of that. I didn’t hit him in the private area, none of that. That just can’t happen. Can’t happen.”
Fortunately, the Sixers survived Harden’s absence, with Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton providing clutch plays down the stretch. Maxey now has 58 points over his last two games against the Nets.
The Sixers will go for the series sweep on Saturday.