The 76’s big man, Joel Embiid, believes the Lakers’ LeBron James should have been banned from last night’s game, according to ESPN. In an exciting match, the 76ers defeated the Lakers with 107-106.
During the third quarter, Embiied was pushed by James and landed on the floor. He landed on his back:
“First of all, I mean, you will see it, this is a very dangerous game,” said Embiid. “I guarantee you that if I were I would probably have been kicked out of the game, which has happened in the past when I got blatant fouls for nothing.”
According to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, James only received an apparent 1 foul and was allowed to end the game. A minute later, Embiid recorded a flagrant 1 for an elbow on Anthony Davis, which made him even more frustrated. He doesn’t feel the foul was a necessary call:
“If you compare this to what I got that I thought I didn’t really hit, I didn’t bend it,” Embiid said, according to ESPN. “I might have touched him, but I don’t think the Flagrant deserves it if you compare these two.
“Those are tough games and I just thought, you know, it should have been a flagrant 2.”
Although Embiid was able to finish the game, he felt that his back was limiting his competitiveness. He missed Monday’s game against the Pistons due to back pain.
“It’s up to me,” said Embiid. “I missed a couple of shots. I just didn’t have any legs. Not because I was tired, which I wasn’t, but my back just wasn’t allowing me to dominate the way I did in the fourth quarter. I missed a couple of shots, we made a couple of mistakes on defense, they made a couple of 3s and just like that they were one. “
Despite last night’s mishaps, Embiied ended up with a solid line consisting of 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots.
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