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Joel Embiid Receives Flagrant Foul After Dangerous Play on Knicks' Mitchell Robinson
The 76ers star got hit with a Flagrant 1 after grabbing Mitchell Robinson's leg.
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.
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.
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.
