Joel Embiid Defends Flagrant Foul on Knicks' Mitchell Robinson

Mitchell Robinson left Thursday's New York Knicks playoff tilt with an ankle injury after a couple of encounters with Joel Embiid.

Apr 25, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) has words / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

After taking their complaints from the prior couple of games to the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers certainly didn't have any reason for a grievance against officials in Game 3 against the New York Knicks.

There's no doubt that the 76ers had the edge in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New York Knicks, as they used a dominant third quarter as the launching pad to a 125-114 victory, their first of the best-of-seven series. But controversy lingers thanks to a questionable in the first quarter, one where 76ers center and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid engaged in a questionable takedown of New York's Mitchell Robinson.

Having fallen to Wells Fargo Center's hardwood after contact with OG Anunoby, Embiid grabbed a shooting Robinson by the ankles and brought him down with him. Robinson, already dealing with a flare-up to the ankle injury that cost him 50 games earlier this season, spent the rest of the first half with a limp and did not appear in the second. Video from Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports depicted Robinson leaving Wells Fargo Center in a medical boot.

Apr 25, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) defends / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Embiid was charged with a flagrant one foul on the play, but the reaction in the New York locker room hardly found that to be a sufficient penalty. Thursday's lead official Zach Zarba addressed the call in the aftermath, claiming both his crew and those stationed in the NBA's Secaucus reply center failed to find sufficient reasoning for a flagrant two, which would've led to Embiid's automatic ejection.

"In this instance, the crew was unanimous along with the replay center official in Secaucus that this foul was unnecessary but did not rise to the level of a flagrant two," Zarba said in a pool report obtained by Tim Bontemps of ESPN. "The unnecessary contact rose to the level of a flagrant one but we were unanimous that this did not rise to the level of excessive contact, unnecessary and excessive, which would have been a flagrant two ejection. That's why we kept it a flagrant one."

That's hardly any consolation to the Knicks, who also had to put up with other Embiid antics, such as a shot to Isaiah Hartenstein's midsection in the first period (which drew a common offensive foul call) and an apparent attempt at Robinson's groin on a jumpshot follow-through in the second. When asked about Embiid's flagrant call in the aftermath, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau replied "which one?" in video from SNY. Two flagrant one calls would've likewise led to an Embiid ejection.

Beyond New York, Embiid's night will likely be remembered for a dominant 50-point effort that required only 19 attempts from the field, as he got to the foul line on 21 occasions.

Embiid, who revealed he has been dealing with a case of Bell's Palsy after the game, likewise addressed the flagrant Robinson incident, claiming he was trying to avoid a similar situation to the one in Golden State that indirectly led to the late January meniscus injury that sidelined him for two months.

"Mitchell Robinson jumping and trying to land, (I'm) trying to make sure he doesn't land on me because, obviously, we know the history that I have with (Jonathan) Kuminga landing on my knee," Embiid said in Bontemps' report. "So I kind of had some flashbacks, when he came down to it. It was unfortunate. I didn't mean to hurt anybody."

"In those situations, I've got to protect myself, because I've been in way too many situations where I'm always the recipient of the bad end of it. So yeah, it was unfortunate, but physical game."

Apr 25, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) reacts / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Embiid's excessive free throws (the Knicks had only 19 as a team on Thursday) and his relative leeway on flagrant calls should partly quell the MVP's concerns about officiating, as he labeled referees as the primary reason behind the Knicks' early 2-0 lead. Unlike the 76ers, the Knicks don't seem destined to file a grievance with the Association about the charges ... or lack thereof ... but the team was nonetheless left plenty frustrated.

"I'll send my clips in like I do every game and then they'll say marginal contact, and then we'll have marginal contact on Embiid and he'll be at the line 21 times," Thibodeau said of Jalen Brunson getting a relatively paltry 12 attempts at the foul line compared to Embiid's frequent visits, per Garrett Stepien of SNY. "So that's the way it works."

There's plenty of time for all parties to take in the film of Thursday's slugfest, as Game 4 of the series is set for Sunday afternoon (1 p.m. ET, ABC).

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