The match was an intensely fought battle which was even spiced up by the controversy of James Harden and Royce O’ Neale.
On Thursday, a dramatic turn happened at the Barclays Center where the Philadelphia 76ers got the better of the Brooklyn Nets 102-97. The Philadelphia 76ers came from behind to snatch an excellent place in the ongoing NBA playoffs.
The Nets are a team which has performed somewhat decently in the 2022-2023 NBA season. There main centre court of Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cameroon Johnson have all been in some efficient form. However, on the big night when it came to getting the work done, the Nets fell short as the 76ers under their talismanic shooting guard James Harden saw them over the line.
The match was an intensely fought battle which was even spiced up by the controversy of James Harden and Royce O’ Neale. There were other minor skirmishes in the aftermath of the game, notably the ejection of Brooklyn Nets centre Nic Claxton, as well as the poor performance of Sixers centre Joel Embiid, who was called for a Flagrant foul 1 and had an overall bad night.
The main talk of the match has to be the foul and the subsequent controversy that baffled the entire game. Although, according to Harden the foul was seen as ‘unacceptable.’ The sixers player was of the opinion that he was labelled as dirty which he was not and was rushed in a judgement which could have been avoided.
James said that the hitherto response was a ‘natural’ basketball instinct which has been seen as very normal in the game of basketball. There have been worse blocks and fouls in the history of the NBA especially when it comes to a place in the playoffs.
However, the authorities have a different opinion from what Harden thinks. The referees felt that there was futile contact with the groin area. According to Monty McCutchen, who is the senior vice president of referee development and training for the NBA, this act of gameplay is ‘excessive and unnecessary’ under the purview of the game.
Due to this problematic decision, Harden had to sit out for the latter half of the third quarter, when the match was at a very crucial juncture. The referees involved in this controversy handled this matter in a very calm way.
The above-mentioned foul was accentuated by the controversy involving another of the stars of Philadelphia, Joel Embiid and Nic Claxton of the Brooklyn Nets. The issue started after Embiid was fouled by Nic Claxton and fell to the ground. Claxton stepped over Embiid and stared him down. In response, Joel also kicked back at him which led to him getting a Flagrant Foul 1 while Caxton got a technical.
Amidst this rousing controversy, individual brilliance from Tyrese Maxey saw the 76ers win their 3rd game of the series. Maxey scored 10 straight points in the closing three minutes of the game which brought Philadelphia at a stone’s throw distance of Brooklyn. Embiid then successfully blocked a Spencer Dinwiddie drive that had the potential to tie the game in the closing seconds. Now, we have to wait and see what happens to Game 4 scheduled on Saturday.
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