Joel Embiid Fires Back at Nick Nurse Following Game 2 Victory

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse wasn’t pleased with the officiating in the Game 1 matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Raptors on Saturday night. 

As the Sixers dominated their opponent in the opening matchup of the series, Nurse felt like his team got the short end of the stick when it came to foul calls — specifically when it came to Sixers’ big man, Joel Embiid.

“I thought he threw three or four elbows to the face,” said Nurse on Saturday. “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."

Two days later, Nurse had the same energy going into Game 2. As the head coach addressed the media for a routine pregame press conference on Monday night, Nurse immediately addressed the officiating from the first game and hoped things would change in 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 hoped that Embiid would see the line fewer times on Monday and potentially get called for more fouls. Unfortunately for him, Nurse’s wishes weren’t granted. After shooting 11 free throws in Game 1, Embiid had the opportunity to put up 14 free throws on Monday night.

And after getting whistled for five fouls in the first outing, he had just two called against him in Game 2. Towards the end of the matchup, when the Sixers were closing out the Game 2 matchup with another victory, Nurse and Embiid were spotted exchanging words during the game as the final seconds ran out. Shortly after, Embiid revealed what was said from his end.

“He’s a great coach, obviously, and what he’s been able to accomplish, I’ve always been a big fan,” said the big man. “I told him respectfully to stop b******* about calls. 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.”

Clearly, Nurse and Embiid will have to agree to disagree on the results of the officiating through two games in the first-round series. As Embiid believes the calls have been fair and even generous to Toronto at times, Nurse remained frustrated throughout the game on Monday.

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