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Tim BontempsESPN
Philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid said he believes Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James should have judged a blatant offense 2 and was suspended from the 107-106 Philadelphia victory over defending champions Wednesday night .
“Well, in the first place I mean you’re watching it, it’s a very dangerous play,” Embiid said of James’ offense, which came at the end of the third quarter of 5:44. “I guarantee you that if I were, I would probably be put out of the game, which has happened to me in the past, I would have done for nothing.”
While Embiid was irritated by the fact that James only gave a flagrant 1 – which allowed him to stay in the game – he was just as bothered by the fact that 68 seconds later he appealed for a flagrant 1 for Anthony Elvis. that Embiid did not deserve the punishment.
“If you compare it to the one I got, and I thought I did not really hit him, I did not bring him to the elbow,” Embiid said. He had 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 touchdowns in 38 minutes. “I may have touched him. But I do not think it deserves the blatant if you are going to compare the two.
“These are tough plays, and I just thought, you know, it must have been a blatant 2.”
In turn, Sixers coach Doc Rivers, a product of a different era of the sport that contains more physical play than today’s game, said he did not think any game should be a flagrant one at all. be not.
His only concern at the moment was that Embiid, who had fallen a few feet on his back and was writhing on the ground in pain, was right after he fell. And while Embiid is not moving as well after the play, he manages to stay in the game and help the Sixers win.
“In the first place, LeBron is not a dirty player,” Rivers said. ‘It was just a physical play and they had to name the blatant, I think.
“You know, all the flagships tonight … you can get a blatant easy one these days. But the fall was difficult, and there was certainly concern there. The fact that Joel persisted was clear that he was not the same. thereafter as far as his movement. And we knew it quite well, so we used him a lot to pick and roll. ‘
Embiid, who was recently on and off on the injury report with a sore back that kept him out of a game or two, said he would only know how it would react after waking up that morning, but that he felt it limited him during the match.
He said part of the Philadelphia crash on the piece, which the Lakers scored 13 consecutive points to erase the Sixers’ 12-point lead, was three minutes ahead and 106-105 ahead with 11.2 seconds left. partly because of the back restriction. his movement.
“It’s up to me,” Embiid said of Philadelphia’s late slide. “I missed a few shots. I just did not have the legs. Not because I was tired, which I was not, but my back did not allow me to dominate as I did in the fourth quarter. “I missed a few shots, we made some mistakes in defense, they made some 3s and just like that they were 1 up.”
But just when it seemed as if the constant questions about the Sixers and their inability to close the piece would haunt Philadelphia once again, the Sixers were saved by a tremendous shot by Tobias Harris, who confidently took a pass , dropped to the elbow against Lakers, Alex Caruso, awake and stood up to bury who was the winning jumper with 3.0 seconds.
‘I’m a person I visualize myself in those places, so if the opportunity came … there’s a chance I’m working over and over again, but in those moments I’m just confident to let it go and be OK with the result.
“It went well tonight.”
It was a shot that also enabled the Sixers to laugh out loud, a piece that was almost an incredibly impressive display by the hosts during the first 45 minutes against the NBA defending champion, Harris said. that his team watched. as a criterion given to the opponent.
“I would say a little bit of both,” Harris, who finished with 22 points, said when asked if he wanted to focus more on being happy, he beat the game winner or left frustrated over Philadelphia’s sloppy game . “I would say there is always growth in everything. So, tonight’s win is a good win for us against a good team, but at the same time we know we can be better, especially in the fourth quarter.”