Less than three minutes into Game 3 between the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, the referees were presented with a series-altering decision. After finishing an alley-oop, Nic Claxton stepped over Joel Embiid, who responded by kicking him in the groin.

The referees went to the monitor and deliberated before making a decision. Claxton was assessed a technical foul. Embiid received a Flagrant 1 and remained in the game, a shocking decision after Draymond Green was ejected and suspended one game for a similar action Tuesday. Brooklyn went on to collapse in the final minutes after leading by five with 2:15 remaining.

Despite a thrilling close, much of the conversation surrounding Game 3 will center on the officials' decision to let Embiid remain in the game, one that Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said left him in disbelief.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career before,” Vaughn said postgame. “For a guy to intentionally kick someone in an area that none of us want to be kicked at or towards and for him to continue to play, I've never seen that before in a game. And a guy continues to be able to play. Intentional.”

Like Jacque Vaughn, Nic Claxton said he was surprised that Joel Embiid was not ejected.

“I finished. And one, stepped over him, he kicked me and I thought he was going to be kicked out of the game,” he said postgame. “But they said it was a Flagrant 1. It is what it is. It's not my job to referee. Maybe I should have sold it more instead of just clapping on the ground. Like I was really, really hurt; but just gotta move on.”

Head referee Tony Brothers gave the reasoning for the call in the pool report postgame.

“The contact was deemed unnecessary and based on the point of contact to the leg, it didn’t rise to the level of excessive,” he said.

The decision made it all the more shocking when Brothers and his crew ejected James Harden for a shot to the groin of Royce O'Neale in the third quarter, an action that looked minimal compared to what Embiid did.

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Brothers said, unlike Embiid, Harden made contact directly to the groin when explaining the ejection.

“Based on the point of contact directly to the groin, it rose to the level of excessive and ejection,” he said.

Harden called the decision “unacceptable” following the Philadelphia win.

“An unacceptable Flagrant 2,” he said postgame. “I'm not labeled as a dirty player. I didn't him in the private area. When someone's draped on you like that defensively, that's just a natural basketball reaction. I didn't hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that. But for a Flagrant 2, it's unacceptable. This is a playoff game. We've seen things around the league that are much worse than what that play was. Honestly, I don't even think it was a foul on me. That's unacceptable. That can't happen.”

The technical given to Claxton for stepping over Embiid would prove costly later on. After finishing another dunk over Embiid to put Brooklyn up six with 8:48 remaining, the 23-year-old flexed and was slapped with a second technical, ending his night. Claxton had tallied 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting while playing tough defense on Embiid up to that point.

He and Harden then watched from their respective locker rooms as the MVP favorite rejected a Spencer Dinwiddie layup attempt in the final minute to propel Philadelphia to victory.

The decision to let Joel Embiid remain in the game looms large on a night when the Nets exited the arena down 3-0. Brooklyn will return to Barclays Center for Game 4 Saturday as they attempt to prevent being swept in the first round for the second straight season.