The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating in the series against the New York Knicks, according to multiple media reports.
Game 2 of the 76ers vs Knicks series had an ending for the ages for the Knicks and a nightmare finish for the Sixers. Trailing by five points with less than 40 seconds left, the Knicks scored eight unanswered points in one of the wildest wins of the season.
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However, the go-ahead shot hinged on a controversial play that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid were clearly unhappy about postgame. After Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer to cut the score to 101-99, Kyle Lowry elected to inbound the ball under the Knicks’ basket and attempt to go full court or force the Knicks to foul. The Knicks doubled-teamed Tyrese Maxey and forced a turnover that led to Donte DiVincenzo’s go-head 3-pointer to put the Knicks up 102-101.
Nurse told reporters after that he attempted to call multiple timeouts but didn’t get the call from the referees. “I call timeout. The referee looked right at me,” Nurse said after the game. “Ignored me.”
Nurse continued: “I just watched the film just to make sure and I’m clearly calling timeout. I didn’t see if he looked at me in the film, but I could see me clearly calling timeout twice.”
76ers coach Nick Nurse says the referees ignored him calling a timeout before the Knicks created a turnover and Donte DiVincenzo made a go-ahead three in the final seconds: pic.twitter.com/tDVfKRyAO2
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 23, 2024
Joel Embiid echoed Nurse’s anger with the missed timeouts, but was clearly more frustrated by the lack of fouls on that play.
“Tyrese got fouled a couple times,” Embiid said after the game. “Forget about the timeouts. There’s a bunch of fouls. That’s f—–g unacceptable.”
"He's the leader of the team… one of the best players in the world… As a leader of the team, he cannot have his head down."
The Fellas react to Joel Embiid's comments following the 76ers tough G2 loss pic.twitter.com/38TqvfqLb4
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2024
As upset as the Sixers are with the ending of Game 2, the team isn’t protesting the game, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic, which means the series won’t change no matter the outcome of their grievance.
Sixers plan to say in the grievance that they have been disadvantaged more than any other team. They'll provide information from the last 2-minute reports during the regular season and into Game 1 of this series to argue that.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 23, 2024
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