The Philadelphia 76ers staved off elimination Friday against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6, but Joel Embiid was not a happy man following the win.
Embiid criticized what he felt was a disparity in the officiating during Friday’s game, suggesting the Hawks guard Trae Young was the beneficiary of soft calls that the Sixers weren’t getting.
“I just felt like it wasn’t called both ways, especially because of the minimal contact that they get on the point guard, and when it comes to us, we don’t get the same thing,” Embiid said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “So I just want it called both ways. If you’re going to call something like nothing on their point guard, it should be the same way and call the same thing [for] me when I get — if I get — touched.”
Embiid was also critical of the fact that he received a technical foul for his fourth quarter altercation with John Collins. He said Young pushed him from behind during the scuffle and got away with it.
“I got a tech for it, and I didn’t think it was an offensive foul,” Embiid said. “I was just trying to stay calm and have my hands up. And someone was pushing me from the back, and I don’t understand why I got a tech.”
It’s pretty clear that Embiid thinks Young is getting favorable treatment from referees. No Sixers starter attempted a free throw until the fourth quarter and Atlanta at one point had a 15-3 advantage in free throws before the Sixers went to the line 20 times in the fourth. It’s worth noting, however, that Young shot five free throws during Friday’s game, only one more than Embiid had.
The Hawks have made clear that making Embiid work hard for everything he gets is part of their strategy. It does appear to be frustrating him a bit, no matter how the games are being officiated.
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