The Philadelphia 76ers won a controversial Game 3 against the Brooklyn Nets after some questionable decisions by the NBA referees. Chris Broussard believes the Sixers were essentially given the game by the refs, and the NBA is being cast in a poor light because of it.
"The referees cost Brooklyn a game. … You left Philly's best player on the floor, you took away the Nets best player that night, and you took away Harden who had a -15 +/-."
— @Chris_Broussard
on 76ers-Nets Game 3.Agree?🤔pic.twitter.com/tUQAjkmRBL
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) April 21, 2023
“Joel Embiid absolutely should have been ejected, especially coming off the heels of what we saw with Draymond Green…you eject James Harden, you were doing the Nets a favor…you eject Nic Claxton having the game of his life…they get outscored over the next eight minutes. The NBA looks scatterbrained, like they are just making game, series and franchise altering decisions willy-nilly…they look terrible.”
Joel Embiid and James Harden were both involved in game-changing decisions by the referees, Harden ultimately being ejected for his. The Nets' Nic Claxton was also ejected in this one, firmly putting the refs' fingerprint on the outcome. Regardless of if the referees made the right decisions or not, it is clear they are becoming too big a part of the discourse.
However, costing the Nets the outcome of the game might be a stretch from Chris Broussard. He mentioned that the Sixers are the better team, so he can understand that usually the better team wins in the NBA Playoffs. Regardless, it was a close game that easily could have gone in another direction if one of these controversial calls went differently.
In the end, the Sixers now own a 3-0 lead and look to be in cruise control for the rest of this series. It will never be the case, but maybe Broussard is right and an alternate reality saw the Nets take home a win with some better officiating on display.
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