DETROIT — The in-season tournament brought a little heat to the game for the Philadelphia 76ers toward the end of a 114-106 win over the Detroit Pistons on the road.
The Sixers completely turned the game around after Detroit led by as many as 16. Philadelphia stormed back to lead by as many as 17 and cruised to the win. They matched the physicality the Pistons played with to get the job done.
Toward the end of the game with the result already decided, Joel Embiid put up a 3-pointer at the buzzer after Detroit cut the lead to eight. The big fella made the shot, but it was waved off. The officials said the shot was too late.
The Pistons did not like that and said something to Embiid. The reigning MVP revealed they tried to fight him. The big fella was thinking about point differential in terms of tiebreakers for the tournament.
“The only thing I noticed was people trying to fight me because they don’t know the rules,” Embiid said after the win. “When it comes to the tournament, points matter. I wish that shot would have counted, and I actually didn’t know that they was trying to fight me. So I wish I would have seen that, but everything counts. It’s fun to challenge for something else on the team. Wherever that takes us, we’ll take it.”
Embiid later explained he heard about it when he got back to the locker room and that, to his understanding, it was players and coaches from Detroit’s side.
“I heard when I came back to the locker room, I heard some people were trying to follow me,” Embiid added. “I had no idea. … Players or coaches. I wish I would have seen it.”
There is an unwritten rule in basketball that states if the game is already decided, and the team in the lead has the ball, it lets time run out. Embiid was thinking in terms of the tournament tiebreaker.
“I guess there’s the unwritten rule,” Embiid continued. “I guess in basketball that you’re not supposed to shoot the ball when you’re up, but then again, I’m like the other team, they were down 17. They didn’t give up. They were scoring the ball.”
Essentially, Embiid is also adding that he wants to play until the end.
“So I never understood that because as a competitor, if you’re gonna keep playing hard, I want to compete,” Embiid finished. “I want to play hard so I’m going to do the same thing. So I never do it, but I respect the game and stuff, but I never understood that. I want to play hard till the last moment, but with this tournament, everything matters. So you got to take it.”
[lawrence-related id=86173,86170,86167]