76ers’ James Harden Ejected From Game 3 vs. Nets

James Harden left Game 3 against the Nets early.

The Philadelphia 76ers lost their ten-time All-Star guard James Harden during the third quarter of Thursday night’s Game 3 matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.

As the fourth quarter approached, Harden was being guarded on an offensive possession by Brooklyn’s Royce O’Neale. As Harden made contact with O’Neale before attacking, the Nets’ reserve fell in pain.

Harden was then whistled for a foul. Not only did the Sixers turn the ball over in the situation, but the officials wanted to review the play for a possible flagrant call. After checking out the replay, Harden was issued a flagrant two foul. Therefore, he was ejected from the matchup.

James Harden ejected.

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Harden left the game after spending 29 minutes on the court. During that time, he shot 8-15 from the field, scoring 21 points. Along with his scoring, Harden produced four assists and came down with five rebounds. 

When Harden went out, the Sixers trailed the Nets 80-76. 

Harden was the second member of the Sixers to land a flagrant foul call during Thursday's game. 

Within the first few minutes of the Game 3 matchup, Sixers center Joel Embiid was whistled for a foul after kicking Brooklyn’s big man, Nic Claxton. After the play was reviewed, the Sixers' big man was slapped with a flagrant one call. 

Since Claxton stepped over Embiid after a dunk, he landed himself a technical foul for his actions. That would be Claxton’s first technical foul of the evening. He later landed a second during the fourth quarter, which led to his night concluding early.

Without Claxton, the Nets hoped to take advantage of a Harden-less Sixers team to avoid falling to 0-3 after coming up short in the first two games. 

Unfortunately for Brooklyn, they came up short. The Harden-less Sixers defeated the Nets 102-97. After the game, Harden sounded off on the decision to issue him with a flagrant two foul.

“Unacceptable,” said Harden. “Like, unacceptable flagrant two. That’s the first time I've been ejected. I’m not labeled as a dirty player, you know what I mean? I didn't hit him in a private area. Somebody's draped on you like that defensively, it's just a natural basketball reaction. I didn't hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that. For a flagrant two, it’s unacceptable. This is a playoff game. You’ve seen around the league things are much more worse than that play was. Honestly, I don’t think it was a foul on me.”

Although he's upset with the decision, Harden can't take the situation back. Fortunately for the Sixers, they managed to win without him. After defeating Brooklyn, the Sixers take a 3-0 lead in the series. Game 4 will take place on Saturday, which marks the return for Harden.