The first-round series between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers has seen a whole lot of complaining about the officials. The 76ers were upset with them after Game 2 and after Game 3, it was the Knicks’ turn to go off on the officials. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was not happy about Jalen Brunson not getting calls, but Joel Embiid got a ton of them.
“He (Jalen Brunson) ended up with 12 free throws right? And a lot of those came at the end,” Thibodeau said. “And so, I’ll look at it again, I’ll send my clips in like I do every game, and then they’ll say ‘marginal contact.’ And then we’ll have marginal contact on Embiid, and he’ll be at the line 21 times.”
(starts at 0:21 mark):
Tom Thibodeau on how Jalen Brunson was officiated tonight:
"I'll send my clips in like I do every game, and then they'll say 'marginal contact.' And then we'll have marginal contact on Embiid, and he'll be at the line 21 times." pic.twitter.com/SzSkQJa4Y0
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 26, 2024
Brunson went 10-12 from the line in the game, but as Thibodeau mentioned, a bulk of those attempts (nine) came only in the fourth quarter, when the game was all but over. The Knicks have been complaining about their star guard not getting enough calls all season.
Brunson ranked third in the NBA in drives per game in the regular season but had just 6.5 FTAs per game. That number has gone up to 9.0 in this series, but unsurprisingly the Knicks still don’t think it’s enough,
Embiid, on the other hand, went 19-21 from the line in Game 3 and he had more FTAs than the entire Knicks team (19). It is hardly the first time that we have seen something like this happen. Embiid has outshot entire teams in the past as well and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens again in this series itself.
It was just last week that Isaiah Hartenstein said Embiid would try to seek fouls and he wanted his teammates to be disciplined. Despite that message being sent, Embiid is averaging 15.0 FTAs per game in this series. That’s up from the 11.6 FTAs he averaged in the regular season, but Game 3 did inflate his averages for the series a bit.
I am certain that free throws will continue to be a much-talked-about subject the rest of the way. As for the series itself, the 76ers kept it alive with a 125-114 win in Game 3 and are now trailing 1-2. Embiid led the way with 50 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block, but he had a whole lot of criticism come his way for some dirty plays.
Tom Thibodeau Thought Joel Embiid Should Have Had Two Flagrant Fouls
Embiid was assessed with a flagrant foul 1 in the first quarter for grabbing Mitchell Robinson’s ankle when he went up for a layup. When asked about that flagrant foul after the game, Thibodeau made it clear he felt Embiid should have gotten two of them.
“Which one? The one they called, or the one they didn’t call? Just want to make sure we have clarity on that,” Thibodeau said.
Tom Thibodeau on the flagrant foul called on Joel Embiid:
"Which one? The one they called, or the one they didn't call? Just want to make sure we have clarity on that." pic.twitter.com/qlrkqYDWar
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 26, 2024
The one the officials missed, as per Thibodeau, was the incident where Embiid hit Hartenstein in the groin. You can check out that, the Robinson play, and some of the other questionable plays made by Embiid below.
Not sure how it’s possible to defend this type of behavior from Joel Embiid. pic.twitter.com/wns18rgvhY
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) April 26, 2024
Embiid claimed he grabbed Robinson’s ankle to protect himself. He said he did not mean to hurt anybody but the Knicks didn’t seem to be buying that one bit. Robinson exited the arena in a walking boot and it remains to be seen how much time he would miss.
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