Joel Embiid added to a physical start between the Knicks and 76ers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series with a flagrant foul on Thursday night, and ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins thought it should have resulted in an ejection.
With 4:30 remaining in the first quarter, Embiid fell to the Wells Fargo Center court after attempting to take a charge when OG Anunoby drove. When Anunoby dished a pass to Robinson, the 76ers’ star grabbed the Knicks center’s leg and attempted to trip him.
Embiid was called for a flagrant 1 foul and Robinson missed both free throws to keep the Knicks’ lead at 18-15.
“Embiid should have been ejected,” Perkins wrote in a post on X. “That was some BS. He could have seriously hurt that man.”
The Empire State Building’s X account also weighed in on the sequence, writing in a post that “Joel Embiid has been banned from the Empire State Building.”
If Embiid had been tossed, it would’ve only made Philadelphia’s quest to win Game 3 and trim its series deficit to 2-1 even more daunting.
Embiid, who was a game-time decision before Game 2 due to a knee injury that resurfaced in the series opener, had combined to score 63 points across the series’ two games, and the center and Tyrese Maxey — the 76ers’ other star who also nearly missed Game 2 as he dealt with an illness — combined to score 69 points Monday, positioning Philadelphia to even the series before the Knicks erased a five-point deficit in a stunning ending.
Embiid grabbed his leg. Screengrab via X/@KnicksMuse
Jalen Brunson’s 3-pointer bounced in with 27 seconds left to pull the Knicks within two, and after Josh Hart stole the ball from Maxey on the ensuing inbounds sequence, Donte DiVincenzo converted a 3 — following his original miss with the make once Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed an offensive rebound — to take the lead.
That essentially turned Game 3 into a must-win for the 76ers.
Also in the first half, Kyle Lowry knocked DiVincenzo in the face while he was attempting a layup and was also called for a flagrant 1 foul.
The Knicks led the 76ers at halftime, 58-55, behind Brunson’s 17 points, Anunoby’s 11 and Hartenstein’s eight.
Embiid paced Philadelphia with 17 points, while Maxey added 11.
