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Joel Embiid Receives Flagrant Foul After Dangerous Play on Knicks' Mitchell Robinson
While much of the sports world was focused on the 2024 NFL draft, the Philadelphia 76ers tipped off their Game 3 matchup against the New York Knicks. It's been a very physical series to this point and it didn't take long for things to escalate on Thursday night, as 76ers superstar Joel Embiid received a flagrant foul in the first quarter.
Embiid went up to block a Knicks shot in the paint and ended up on his back. OG Anunoby came down with the rebound and dished it to center Mitchell Robinson. Robinson went up for the easy layup but Embiid decided to grab Robinson's legs and yank them out from under him. It was a really dangerous sequence and deserving of a flagrant foul.
Joel Embiid received a Flagrant 1 after this foul on Mitchell Robinson 😳 pic.twitter.com/2ygeQh8gMG
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 26, 2024
This came merely minutes after officials were forced to review an Embiid play for a possible hostile act after the big man appeared to knee Isaiah Hartenstein below the belt.
Isaiah Hartenstein was in pain after this offensive foul by Joel Embiid
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 26, 2024
(via @KnicksClipss) pic.twitter.com/pziNshaBJd
Playoff basketball is significantly more physical than any regular season play but it's hard to understand what Embiid's intentions were here. Undercutting an NBA player in the air is always a no-no and you never see a player laying on the ground reach up and grab someone else's leg. Everyone is fortunate disaster was avoided.
Despite Robinson missing both flagrant free throws, the Knicks led the 76ers, 29-27, after the first quarter.
Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.