BROOKLYN, N.Y. — It didn't take long for tensions to flare in Game 3 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night. Just three minutes into the game, Sixers superstar Joel Embiid was assessed a flagrant 1 foul after kicking Nicolas Claxton. The Nets center was given a technical foul for stepping over Embiid, but let's rewind a bit to see how we got here.
The skirmish was caused after Claxton caught a lob pass from Mikal Bridges and dunked on Embiid. As Embiid fell to the ground, Claxton stepped over the big man, and as he was doing so, the Sixers big man extended his leg upwards and kicked Claxton. Players from both teams swarmed to stop the incident from going any further, and after a review of the play officials gave Embiid a flagrant 1.
Embiid kicks Claxton after he stares him down and steps over him 😳pic.twitter.com/ZWlu0CBsYH
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 20, 2023
Embiid claimed after the game that he didn't remember the play.
"I don't know, I don't remember," he said. "We, like I said, were up 3-0, we move on. It takes me a lot to process a game after that type of fight. So I gotta go watch the tape, see what we can do better, what I can do better, and I'm just happy we got the win."
It's somewhat surprising Embiid wasn't given a harsher penalty, especially after what happened in Game 2 between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in which Draymond Green was ejected from that game after stepping on Domantas Sabonis' chest. Green was later suspended by the league for Game 3.
"The contact was deemed unnecessary and based on the point of contact to the leg, it didn't rise to the level of excessive," referee Tony Brothers told the pool reporter after the game.
This situation is slightly different, but you could argue that Embiid's kick appeared worse given he wasn't tangled up with Claxton. It'll be interesting to see if the league hands down any punishment of their own, as they did after the fact with Green.
"I don't think I've ever seen that in my career before," Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said. "For a guy to intentionally kick someone in an area that none of us want to be kicked at, or towards, and for him to continue to play. I've never seen that before in a game and a guy continues to be able to play. Intentional."
