The Philadelphia 76ers were up in arms about the officiating at the end of Game 2 of their first-round series against the New York Knicks. Joel Embiid and head coach Nick Nurse expressed their frustrations with the officials, and a Knicks fan on X hilariously brought back an old quote from Embiid, telling Nurse to stop complaining about calls.
“I told him, respectfully, I told him to stop bitching about calls.”
"I told him, respectfully, I told him to stop bitching about calls."
Joel Embiid responding to Nick Nurse's complaints about the officiating after Game 2 of Sixers-Raptors first-round series in 2022 pic.twitter.com/x8OdPRfMsA
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) April 23, 2024
Nurse was, of course, the head coach of the Raptors at the time and they were taking on Embiid and the 76ers in the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. In Game 2, the 76ers shot 30 free throws compared to 12 for the Raptors, which angered Nurse.
“If we’re legal defensively, we’ve gotta have a call, or we don’t have a chance. Nobody can guard that guy if they’re gonna let him run you over,” Nurse said.
Embiid said in response that Nurse is a great coach, whom he has always liked, but told him to stop all that complaining. I get that it is funny now that they are both complaining about calls, but I don’t blame them one bit for that.
While you could argue whether Nurse was making a valid point back in 2022 or not, there is no debating the fact that he and Embiid are right to be upset about what happened against the Knicks. The 76ers looked to be in position to win Game 2 in New York, only for the referees to mess up.
Philadelphia had the ball, up 101-99 with 27.0 seconds remaining. As Kyle Lowry was not able to quickly inbound the ball, Nurse called for a timeout, but the referees somehow missed that.
Lowry eventually inbounded to Tyrese Maxey, who lost the ball and the Knicks gained possession. It appeared as if Maxey had been fouled multiple times, but the referees didn’t blow the whistle. The Knicks then hit a three-pointer after a wild sequence to get the lead and went on to win 104-101.
After the game, Nurse made it clear he had called for a timeout before the inbounds pass. He said the referee looked at him as well but did nothing. Embiid also blasted the officials over the controversial ending to Game 2.
There was much debate afterward, with some claiming that Nurse seemed undecided about calling for timeout and that Maxey had fouled Josh Hart before he got fouled. We finally heard what the NBA thought of all this when the L2M report for the game was released.
It confirmed that Nurse should have been granted a timeout and that Maxey was indeed fouled by Hart and Jalen Brunson. The league also stated that Maxey had not fouled Hart prior to that, as the contact was deemed “marginal.” So, the 76ers were right to be upset, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re now down 0-2.
Joel Embiid Said This Loss Was Worse Than The One In Game 7 Against The Raptors
To say Embiid was disappointed after this defeat would be an understatement. He went as far as to say this felt even worse than that infamous Game 7 against the Raptors in 2019, where Kawhi Leonard hit a game-winner at the buzzer.
“This is worse than Game 7 [vs. Toronto in 2019],” Embiid said.
I think Embiid was just being a prisoner of the moment there. That loss, of course, eliminated the 76ers and was much worse than this one. In some ways, though, this defeat in Game 2 might have sealed their fate as well, if history is anything to go by.
The 76ers have never won a series after going down 0-2. They lost on all 14 previous occasions and Embiid would be hoping that the 15th time is the charm.
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