Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden returning to Brooklyn. The underdog Nets looking to make this a first-round series after losing the first two games in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid's ongoing MVP case.
There were multiple storylines leading up to Game 3 of this first-round Eastern Conference playoff series inside Barclays Center on Thursday night.
Instead, respected crew chief Tony Brothers and the rest of the officials on hand in the Big Apple took center stage in what finished as a chippy 102-97 Sixers win.
The officiating circus started within the first 2:30 minutes of the first quarter, when Nets center Nic Claxton dunked over Embiid. The latter opted to kick Claxton in the groin area. While it seemed Embiid was headed for a Flagrant 2 and an early shower, Brothers and Co. instead slapped him with a mere Flagrant 1.
This was a harbinger of things to come for the zebras in what was a high-octane playoff matchup between these two Eastern Conference rivals.
Late in the third quarter, James Harden was called for a foul after his elbow made contact with Royce O’Neale’s midsection. After reviewing the foul, officials declared that it was a Flagrant 2 and ejected Harden from what was then a four-point game.
With Harden no longer a piece on the chessboard, both teams traded subsequent proverbial jabs. That included Embiid being called for a charge -- his fifth foul of the game -- with 5:20 remaining and the Philadelphia 76ers down 90-87. 76ers head coach Doc Rivers opted against challenging the foul call. Embiid finished the game with a mere 14 points.
As if all of this was not enough, Nets star center Nic Claxton was ejected after receiving his second technical of the game with 8:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. It came with Brooklyn leading by six points. Both of Claxton's flagrant fouls came on taunting plays.
You can be the judge there. But objectively, how can a player of Claxton’s ilk be tossed from a playoff game for something like this?
Claxton had played Embiid well to that point, scoring 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting with four rebounds at the time of the ejection. Whistles dictating the outcome of what was an absolutely stellar game between the two teams is a bad look for the NBA.
Tyrese Maxey scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to put his 76ers in position for a 3-0 series lead. That should have been the lead storyline out of Brooklyn. Maxey is among the best young players in the game. He stepped up with Harden ejected and Embiid struggling. Embiid put up the game-clinching block of Spencer Dinwiddie and that, too, should have been a top storyline.
Unfortunately, most of the postgame talk surrounded the officiating. It has already been an all-too common theme less than a week into the 2023 NBA Playoffs. And it must change moving forward.
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