Last night the Philadelphia 76ers threw away a real golden opportunity to tie the series at home to the New York Knicks. At +5 with only 28 seconds on the clock., they first suffered a triple by Jalen Brunson and then lost the ball on the throw-in and conceded an offensive rebound that led to Donte DiVincenzo’s +1 triple. In the end it was then the Knicks who won 104-101 and take a 2-0 lead in the series. A series that, according to Joel Embiid, it should have been 2-0 but for Philadelphia. Sixers center stated. also that it will be his team that will pass the round, because has proven to be “the best team” in the first two races.
Immediately after the final siren, however, a controversy erupted regarding the refereeing. As reported by Tim Bonpetmps, the Sixers will send an official complaint to the NBA about the way the Knicks’ two home games were refereed.
The 76ers plan to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating across the first two games of this series, a team spokesperson told ESPN.
– Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 23, 2024
In particular, the discussion is mainly about the controversial throw-in that culminated in the recovered ball that led to DiVincenzo’s decisive triple. In fact, before the ball was put back into play by Philadelphia, not only is it seen Brunson holding Maxey by the jersey., but in the background coach Nick Nurse was (timidly) calling timeout, being ignored, however.
Clear shot of Nurse actually calling timeout and Maxey getting fouled: pic.twitter.com/cE0NyWsYKO
– | myke | 🦅 (@PhillyTruthr) April 23, 2024
Obviously, the Sixers’ grievance against the Knicks will have no effect on the two games already played; Philadelphia’s goal is to put some pressure on the referees by hoping for more attention in the two contests to be played in the coming days at the Wells Fargo Center.
However, this is the second game of the night with strong referee complaints, as LeBron James and the Lakers also complained about how the game against Denver was conducted.