Getty P.J. Tucker and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers
After the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics in their final matchup of the regular season on April 5, Celtics forward Grant Williams called out Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker when talking about unfair treatment from the referees
Williams was called for a technical foul with a minute and 58 seconds left to go in the game, which Williams used as a reference while explaining why he believes referees treat him unfairly, as he believed Tucker and Embiid committed similar actions afterward that warranted technical fouls.
“So that moment where I got hit in the face twice, I said, ‘Call the f***ing foul,’” Williams told Jay King of The Athletic. “And next thing you know I got a technical. So I got a technical for that. And the following possession P.J. says, ‘Call the f***ing push-off.’ No technical foul. Later in the game, after Joel throws me across the face on the out-of-bounds play, no review of a flagrant, no review of nothing. Then he proceeds to say, ‘How the f— do you call a foul on me in that position? That’s not a f***ing foul.’ And no technical foul. So it was like, okay, did I do something different from the other guys that led to me getting a technical foul? Or is it one of those things where I just need to shut up and dribble?”
Williams’ technical loomed large in the game, seeing how the Sixers won by two points.
Joe Mazzulla Singles Out P.J. Tucker
What helped the Sixers pull away from the Celtics was Tucker hitting three three-pointers as the game was winding down.
P.J. Tucker with three huge threes in the fourth quarter
During his postgame press conference, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla talked about how Tucker’s timely-made threes made all the difference in the game.
“If [PJ] Tucker doesn’t make those three threes, it’s a completely different game. Or if we let Embiid keep going, maybe he misses a couple. You don’t know,” Mazzulla said. “But I thought our guys competed. I thought they were very detailed in keeping him off the free-throw line. I thought he just had a great night, and we weren’t tremendous on the offensive end like we normally are.”
Tucker’s 11 points are the second-highest scoring output he’s had for the Sixers all season, and the most he’s had since scoring 13 points against the Washington Wizards on October 31, 2022.
Doc Rivers Calls Out Grant Williams Flop
With two seconds to go and up two, the Sixers turned it over because of an offensive foul called on Embiid, as Williams drew a charge on him (3:45 mark).
During his postgame press conference Sixers head coach Doc Rivers called out Williams for what he believed was a flop, though he acknowledged some of the other mistakes made by the Sixers.
“Knowing that the Celtics flop, you know that they were going to do that at the end; we said that in the timeout. Not paying attention when the guys on the free throw line, which is clearly, I mean, we had the whole gambit. So in some ways, it was a good way to win because it gave us material in a crazy way, to hit home about all the little points.”