PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers saw a 21-point lead slip away when they fell to the Orlando Magic at home on Monday 119-109. They were playing excellent basketball to begin the night as Joel Embiid was putting in work in the paint, but it just wasn’t enough.
There were some questionable calls in this one from the officiating crew. Embiid was called for five fouls on the night. He was called for three in the fourth quarter alone which limited his effectiveness and he was upset about it after the loss.
“They got a lot of calls,” Embiid stated. “They got to the free-throw line a lot and we didn’t. They got a favorable whistle, but that’s really been a story of our season. If we take out the ball, we usually put ourselves in great situations and tonight, we just turned the ball over a lot.”
When a guy like Embiid who relies on his aggressiveness picks up five fouls, it changes a lot about his game.
“I mean, it changes everything,” said Embiid. “You can’t be as aggressive defensively. Obviously, especially in a game like this, close game, fourth quarter when you really need to lock in and fly all over the place, it’s hard to do with five fouls.”
The Magic shot 24-for-30 from the line while Philadelphia was 18-for-23. Embiid himself missed four free throws and couldn’t be aggressive in the fourth due to the fouls.
“On the offensive end, when you play against someone that flops a lot, and referees and the way they went about this game, we weren’t getting anything so it’s hard, but you just gotta try to do it,” Embiid added. “I just wasn’t good enough.”
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