During Game 3 between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid was assessed a flagrant one for pulling Mitchell Robinson’s leg while he was in the air.
Several players on the Knicks, such as Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart, had an issue with Embiid’s foul. However, they avoided a PG-13 response.
“It was dirty,” DiVincenzo told reporters. “It was dirty.”
Knicks legend Charles Oakley, on the other, didn’t hold back when asked about Embiid’s foul on Robinson.
Oakley claims he would’ve slapped Embiid if he was on the court, and honestly, we believe him.
“I probably would have smacked him,” Oakley told Barbara Barker of Newsday. “You can’t let him send that kind of message. If he had done something like that [when Oakley played], he wouldn’t have gotten away with it. David Robinson, when he played, he knew what he could get away with. They [bullies] pick a fight they think they are going to win.”
Unfortunately for the Knicks, they can’t afford to be too physical with Embiid. The refs have been giving him favorable calls most of this series.
“I’ll look at it again, and I’ll send my clips in like I do every game, and they’ll say, ‘marginal contact’, and then we’ll have marginal contact on Embiid and he’ll be at the line 21 times,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The Knicks and 76ers will square off this Sunday in a pivotal Game 4.