Nick Nurse Remains Displeased With Officiating Against Joel Embiid

The Toronto Raptors are off to a tough start in their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. After finding success against the Sixers during

The Toronto Raptors are off to a tough start in their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. After finding success against the Sixers during the regular season, winning three out of four games, many anticipated the first-round battle between Philly and Toronto to be a competitive one.

So far, that hasn't been the case. Through two games, the Sixers have dominated the Raptors on the scoreboard. In Game 1, Philly opened the series with a 131-111 blowout win over the Raptors. While Game 2 was closer, in the end, the Sixers still dominated.

In the past, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has proven he has a blueprint for finding success in slowing down Sixers' superstar center Joel Embiid. But through the first two postseason games, the Raptors struggled to do that, and Nurse believes that a lack of calls against Embiid is the reason.

“I thought he threw three or four elbows to the face,” said Nurse after Game 1. “He got called for one. I mean, we're gonna stand in there. We just need, if we’re legal defensively, then we’ve got to have them called, or we don't have a chance, period. Nobody can guard that guy if they’re just gonna let him run you over time and time again. We're gonna stand in there, and we'll see if we don't get a few more elbows to the face calls and a few more beat him to the spot calls."

Nurse's Game 1 frustrations didn't just come and go. While NBA coaches tend to have a 24-hour rule where they forget about something one day after a game is settled, Nurse continued to sound off on the officiating from Saturday night during his pregame press conference ahead of Game 2.

“You heard me saying it after the game, we got ran over a bunch when we were legal, which is true,” said Nurse on Monday. “There were several shots to the face, which I don’t understand were not reviewed. There were three, and one was called. It was two others — there was one to the back of the head, and there was an open hand slap to the face. I hope that they’ve got enough guts to at least stop the game and look at stuff tonight. I don’t mind physicality. It’s the playoffs, and we expect it to be physical, and we’ve got to be able to handle that.”

Nurse added that he hoped the referees would "at least have the guts" to review some of the plays he believes are fouls on Monday, but the Raptors' head coach remained frustrated throughout the course of the matchup.

As Embiid garnered the opportunity to take 14 free throws on Monday and was whistled for just two fouls of his own, Nurse once again expressed disappointment in the officiating to both Embiid and the media on Monday night.

Nurse Sounds Off... Again

"Again, we did draw a couple of charges," said Nurse following Game 2. "We absolutely, on the challenge, I don’t see how that’s not a charge. They see it live, and it looks like a charge, see it on film, and it looks like a charge, so I thought that was a missed one. There was another open-handed slap to the face that I don’t understand why they will not call them, but other than that, at least there wasn’t as many elbows thrown to the face tonight that we had to endure."

Before Nurse addressed the media on Monday night, he had what looked like a heated conversation with Joel Embiid as the game winded down. Nurse then told the media his side of the story regarding the conversation.

"Yeah, he was saying to me that, you know, I'm going to keep making all the free throws if you keep fouling," Nurse explained. "I said, 'Well, you might have to.'"

Embiid painted a slightly different picture when he addressed the media across the arena, as he had a different outlook on the conversation and the entire situation in general.

"I told him respectfully to stop b******* about calls," said Embiid. "I saw what he said last game. I mean, if you’re going to triple-team somebody all game, they’re bound to get to the free-throw line. Or, if you want to push them off and try to hold them off and all that stuff, they are bound to get to the free-throw line. I feel like every foul was legit and probably should’ve been more, honestly.”

While the two competitors' opinions on the subject resulted in an exchange, both Nurse and Embiid traded compliments and respect to clarify that despite their disagreements, they still respect one another.

"[He's] good player, man," said Nurse. "Like, I got a lot of respect for him. He's certainly playing great here. There's nothing there but us trying to compete against him and him trying to compete against us."

"He’s a great coach, obviously," Embiid said. "What he’s been able to accomplish, I’ve always been a big fan." 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.