The Philadelphia 76ers had worked themselves back into the game on Thursday after falling behind by as many as 20 points against the Brooklyn Nets. They had pulled even with the shorthanded Nets in the fourth quarter thanks to some big shots by Joel Embiid and Seth Curry.
However, the Nets used their offensive firepower led by Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin in order to knock off the Sixers 114-105. It is a bad loss for Philadelphia as they fell to a Brooklyn team missing the likes of James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Joe Harris, and others in this one.
The Sixers were upset that the officials did not call a single foul on the Nets in the fourth quarter as Philadelphia did not get the benefit of the whistle.
“I thought Joel got fouled the last three post possessions, And-1s, but none was called,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I don’t know how a team can play in the fourth quarter in a game where we’re driving the ball, and posting the ball, and they have zero fouls. It’s hard to play a quarter in the NBA and commit no fouls. So, very surprised by that.”
Embiid is normally a guy who gets the benefit of the whistle in games such as this one, but he did not get those calls in order to get it done.
“I thought we got fouled a few times,” said the big fella. “Especially me down there, but I mean, it’s frustrating when they’re calling fouls for the other team down there and you don’t get any. I can see what he was talking about.”
It did seem that every time the Sixers tried to dump the ball into Embiid, they couldn’t get it to him because the Nets were in there making life tough on the big fella. A lot of that is going to bother a team like the Sixers.
“Yeah, I don’t know how that’s possible,” said Curry. “We were driving the ball, Joel’s in there battling, guys on his back, you could even call a foul when we’re trying to get the ball to him. Guys are jumping on his back and when he’s attacking the rim. I don’t remember the last time that’s happened, but we still had a chance there.”
One can understand their frustration, but it also should not have come down to that point. The Sixers were facing a Nets team that was severely shorthanded while they had all of their main pieces outside of Tyrese Maxey. This game should not have come down to that, but a poor effort to start the game allowed it to be that way and the Sixers need to figure out how to start games better.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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