Doc Rivers Addresses Embiid, Harden, Draymond Green After Game 3

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid nearly landed himself in some hot water on Thursday night as the Sixers visited the Brooklyn Nets for Game 3 of their first-round series.

In the opening minutes of the matchup, Embiid was in danger of getting ejected. After Nets center Nic Claxton went up for a successful dunk, he stepped over Embiid, who fell to the ground. Embiid then retaliated by kicking up.

Considering the situation across the league involving Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis, many expected Embiid to land in the same situation as Green, which involved an ejection and a suspension.

However, when the officiating crew reviewed the play, Embiid was issued a flagrant one foul call. Therefore, he was ejection-free.

In addition, Claxton received a technical foul.

Game 3 between the Nets and the Sixers has been concluded for quite some time now, but the infamous play was a hot topic amongst sports talk on Friday morning.

Before a routine film session, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers addressed the media, putting together a lengthy rant defending Embiid, and Warriors’ standout, Draymond Green.

“Listen, I’m gonna say this, probably shouldn’t. I didn't think Draymond should have got suspended, and I think the league is setting up a very dangerous precedent right now,” said Rivers. “And this is not me campaigning. All right, and I’m dead serious.”

Instigators Need Repercussion

“If we’re going to start punishing the retaliators and not the instigators, then we’ve got a problem in this league," said Rivers. "As a coach, and I love Jacque (Vaughn), but I can’t believe we have coaches campaigning for guys not to play. That’s just nuts to me. I've been a player and this is a player's league and I am 100 percent pro-player. I think players should play in games. We talk all year about the fans not being happy about guys playing and now we're taking guys out of the playoffs. I don't believe in the past stuff either. Like, they take away all your techs at the end of the season, right? And you start over. Then you start over that stuff too. Jo was saying with Draymond the past, no. Should’ve done something then, this is now.

“On top of that, Draymond Green stepped on a guy’s chest because he was holding his foot. If I was at a park, and you stood over me, we’re gonna have a problem. I didn’t grow up in the sticks and stones era, I grew up in the break the bones era. A little different. Having said that, these guys know they can do it because you most likely know they can’t do anything. I’m not picking on Claxton, but I don’t think at a park you’re standing over Joel. But when you got the ref and everybody else there, you know nothing’s gonna happen. All I’m saying is this is what I’m concerned by: Teams are targeting the better players to instigate to get them thrown out and the better player has to be above it, and can't retaliate.”

Going into Game 3, Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn made it clear that physicality will be be the key to their gameplan for the third outing of the first-round. From the jump of the matchup, it was clear the Nets were doing what they could to get into the heads of the Sixers’ stars.

Embiid took the bait early on, but avoided an ejection. Later on in the game, James Harden found himself slapped with a flagrant two foul, ending his night after 29 minutes. After reviewing the film, Rivers still isn’t sure why Harden was punished.

What Happened With Harden?

“James thing was a joke,” Rivers continued. “It’s funny, I hadn’t seen it as clear enough until late last night, about two in the morning when I’m watching film, and the first thing with James is I’m still looking for the foul. To have him thrown out… The problem I have with James getting thrown out was there were three officials and at least one to two guys in Secaucus, and that's what they came up with? I just can’t understand that one. Joel’s could’ve gone either way, now that I’ve watched it. It really could have. I think he kicked him in the leg accidentally. I don’t know if that’s where he was charging or not. But don’t stand over me. That’s like how we have these unwritten rules in hockey where if you do something, it’s almost like you’re allowed to do things in hockey. Well, we need to create some in our league. One of them is you don’t straddle a guy and stand over him.”

Getting Prepared for Game 4

“We definitely have to be ready and handle that stuff better as a group,” Rivers finished. “We just have to know Jo is probably the main guy because he gets it but it was all game. If you watch, they're bumping, they're hitting him they are there holding him there, and it was allowed. So you know, the lesser guys have never gotten that because no one's doing that to them. So we're asking our stars to turn their heads a whole bunch more than they can at times. It’s a tough one for the league. I think they’re in a tough spot. If you’re going to suspend Draymond, you should suspend the other guy too. You created it, you go too. If you want to do that, you’re putting yourself in a chance where if a guy does respond then you may go too. I think we have to come up with something like that. That’s my last — that’s what I would go to.”

The Sixers and the Nets will meet for Game 4 on Saturday afternoon. A win for Philly ends the series. A Nets victory would create a Game 5 scenario, bringing the series back to Philly.