Were Joel Embiid, James Harden's Game 6 Complaints Warranted?

Joel Embiid and James Harden were not happy with the officiating during Game 6 against the Celtics. A recent report warrants their frustration.

The Philadelphia 76ers pointed to several factors as to why they couldn’t come out on top in Game 6 against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

In the eyes of Doc Rivers, the Sixers’ offense simply didn’t trust each other, which is something that the young guard Tyrese Maxey agreed with. 

While James Harden believed that the lack of trust factor wasn’t true, he blamed missed shots that the team typically makes as a reason why the Sixers came up short.

Joel Embiid saw both arguments as valid and thought that his lack of touches down the stretch of the fourth quarter played a critical part in the loss that would’ve allowed them to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Several members of the Sixers had different views on factors that played a vital role in the final results of Game 6, but one thing the Sixers certainly agreed on was the officiating errors.

“Tonight, it was just frustrating because I’m number one as far as fouls that don’t get called. Like, it’s a fact,” James Harden said after the game. “It’s frustrating as a player when officiating tells you at halftime that we missed a couple of fouls.”

“Between the momentum changing, between that stupid a** goaltend — those type of calls — that just can’t happen,” Joel Embiid said, regarding a questionable goaltending call that went against him early on in the matchup. “This is the playoffs. If you’re going to make those types of calls, you got to be sure about it. That’s just not okay.”

Just a couple of days after Embiid and Harden voiced their frustration with the officiating during Game 6, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that an NBA officiating game report revealed “significant disparity” errors regarding calls and no-calls against the Sixers and the Celtics on Thursday.

An interesting dynamic approaching Celtics-Sixers Game 7, per sources: NBA’s officiating game report shared with teams from Game 6 revealed a significant disparity: 13 officiating errors disadvantaging 76ers to four disadvantaging Boston. Those can include calls and non calls.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 14, 2023

Per Wojnarowski, the report revealed that there were 13 officiating errors that left the Sixers at a disadvantage. As for the Celtics, they had four, which is quite the difference.

The report won’t change the results of the matchup, but it seems complaints from members of the Sixers were at least warranted following the 95-86 loss.

But the Sixers can’t let past officiating mistakes cloud their heads going into Game 7 on Sunday. With a do-or-die matchup in front of them, the Sixers have to do all they can to come out on top in Boston for the third time in this series, or else they’ll be heading into a critical offseason early.