Donte DiVincenzo, Knicks call out Joel Embiid following flagrant foul

Donte DiVincenzo and the New York Knicks call out Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid following his flagrant one foul in Game 3.

PHILADELPHIA — Play grew chippy in Game 3 between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks. Joel Embiid was called for a questionable offensive foul in the first quarter and expressed his frustrations to the officials.

Later in the first, Embiid was in a awkward position. He was lying on the baseline underneath the basket and Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson went up for a shot. Embiid grabbed at his leg, which he said was an attempt to protect himself, but the Knicks aren’t buying it.

Donte DiVincenzo, among others, confronted Embiid, who was called for a flagrant one foul, after the play. The officials stepped in to separate everybody, and Embiid was screaming at every New York player in his vicinity.

After the game, DiVincenzo called out Embiid, saying it was a dirty play.

Lead official Zach Zarba told a pool report about the play:

In that situation, the crew gets together, we go and review the foul. In this instance, the crew was unanimous along with the replay center official in Secaucus that this foul was unnecessary but did not rise to the level of a flagrant 2. The unnecessary contact rose to the level of a flagrant 1, but we were unanimous that this did not rise to the level of excessive contact, unnecessary and excessive, which would have been a flagrant 2 ejection. That’s why we kept it a flagrant 1.

Josh Hart also said his piece on Embiid. He pointed out the injury to Robinson who left the game with an ankle issue. Now, the leg that Embiid grabbed was Robinson’s right leg. New York’s big man left with a left ankle issue. There is no indication Embiid’s play caused the injury to Robinson.

The series will continue to get chippy as the Sixers look to even it at 2 on Sunday in Game 4.

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