Joel Embiid has been criticized after his 50-point performance in the 76ers' Game 3 win over the Knicks. Embiid committed a flagrant foul on Mitchell Robinson, grabbing his ankle during a layup attempt. Embiid explained his actions after the game, claiming he was trying to protect himself.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. In those situations, I got to protect myself, because I’ve been in way too many situations where I’m always the recipient of the bad end of it. It was unfortunate.”
The issue with what Embiid is saying is that it seemed a deliberate attempt to grab the leg of an offensive player during a live ball situation. It was a reckless and careless play, which would've resulted in consequences for most other players. Even if he wasn't ejected at the moment, justifying his action after the fact is asinine.
This ended up being a turning point in the contest, as Embiid went on to score 50 points in a masterclass performance. The Knicks were left without Embiid's primary matchup, as Robinson left the game with an ankle injury and exited the arena in a walking boot.
It was announced after the game that Embiid was playing through a mild case of Bell's palsy. While his efforts to play through this are heroic, it doesn't justify the foul he committed.
The Knicks React To Embiid's Foul On Mitchell Robinson
It's safe to say that players on the Knicks were extremely frustrated with how Embiid's foul on Mitchell Robinson was handled. While a flagrant one was issued in the game, many argue that Embiid should have been given a flagrant two and ejected from the game.
Josh Hart discussed how thankful the Knicks were that Robinson wasn't seriously injured while wanting the referees to identify a line with the physicality that they want.
"Happy Mitch didn't get a serious injury on that... I'm all for tough fouls, tough playoff fouls, but that's something that can put a guy out for a significant amount of time. We're lucky he didn't get seriously hurt."
Hart also opened up on if he was surprised at how the game was being officiated when asked if Embiid's foul on Robinson should have been a flagrant two.
"We knew what Game 3 was gonna be... Especially with how Game 2 ended. Am I surprised? Not at all. At the end of the day, we just got to move on."
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo was more direct than Hart about his criticism.
"It was dirty."
Coach Tom Thibodeau didn't focus on just the Robinson foul but went after officiating in general. When he was asked about this foul in particular, Thibs used it to highlight how there were 'more' fouls that went uncalled.
“Which one? The one they called, or the one they didn't call? Just want to make sure we have clarity on that. I don't even know. What did they have 33 free throws?”
Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein was also heavily critical of what Embiid did, calling it a non-basketball play.
"It's not a basketball play."
The Knicks might be leaving this Game 3 frustrated, but there were multiple calls down the stretch of Game 2 which went their way and doomed the 76ers to a loss. Instead of focusing on biases, we should admit that the officiating has been the poorest in this series out of all eight first-round matchups.
We received an update on Mitchell Robinson's health after the game, with major doubts hanging over his availability for Game 4 in Philadelphia.
"Dirty and reckless were just two of the words used in the Knicks locker room to describe Joel Embiid's play on Mitchell Robinson... He re-injured his ankle, probably to a degree on that Joel Embiid play. It's the same ankle he was listed as questionable for heading into this game, it's the same ankle he had surgically repaired earlier this season. Probably a significant amount of concern around Robinson's ankle going into Game 4."
It doesn't look like the league will pursue this foul after the game and hand Embiid a punishment for the outcome of his actions. This could be a good thing for the viewers as this series will be one-sided if Embiid misses even one game, but isn't a good precedent to set.
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