Sixers superstar Joel Embiid had some words for Raptors coach Nick Nurse as Philadelphia beat Toronto on Tuesday (AEST) to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
Embiid took his lumps and powered his way to 31 points and 11 rebounds.
“They put me on the floor a few times and to me, this is where it gets interesting,” Embiid said. “I’m like, cool. I’m going to come back with more power and make you foul me.”
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Embiid took foul after foul – he rubbed parts of his shoulders and elbows and shook off at least one foot injury — and made 12 of 14 free throws. He made nine of 16 shots from the floor for the game.
But in the dying seconds of the match, all eyes were on Embiid and Nurse after the pair appeared to be involved in a minor confrontation.
Embiid told Nurse in the waning moments of the game that he was going to keep making all the free throws if Toronto continued to foul him.
Nurse’s retort? “You might have to.”
Embiid, during the post-game press conference, laughed and said he told Nurse, “respectfully, to stop b—-ing about calls.”
The Raptors came ready to rumble after coach Nick Nurse accused the officials of letting the Sixers get away with hard fouls in game one. Not even two minutes into the game, Anunoby shoved Embiid, Embiid shoved back and both teams had to be separated as the crowd erupted. Anunoby and Embiid were both whistled for technical fouls.
“I didn’t really want them to set that tone,” Embiid said. “I wanted myself and us to set that tone. That’s why I picked up that early technical foul.”
The Raptors raced to an 11-2 lead and had the first six fouls to none for the 76ers.
“They wanted to muck the game up and play physical, Rivers said. “I just told our guys to just play through it.”
Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey had 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Sixers. Tobias Harris had 20 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden scored 14.
Game three in the Eastern Conference series is on Thursday in Toronto.
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