The Philadelphia 76ers have enough to worry about in terms of strategy and execution after their stunning 111-102 loss to the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of the teams' first-round series. Unfortunately, a hobbled Joel Embiid will also have to deal with non-basketball related fallout from Saturday's contest, too.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Sixers down 16 points, the television broadcast showed a replay of Amir Johnson and Embiid looking at text messages on the former's phone — not just a violation of NBA rules, but an action that seemed to convey their lack of concern over what was transpiring on the floor.

Johnson, who was inactive for Game 1, will almost surely be fined by the league bringing his phone to the bench. The public reception to the incident, though, might need to be re-calibrated after Embiid explained the reason both players were checking Johnson's text messages.

“Obviously, I wasn't on my phone,” he said, per Ben Golliver of The Washington Post. “I just looked down because he said that his daughter was extremely sick, and he was checking on her. So, I don't know. I just looked. But he was checking on his daughter — she's sick.”

Brown, for his part, called the actions of Johnson and Embiid “completely unacceptable,” stressing Philadelphia would “deal with it internally.” It's unclear if he was made aware of Embiid's comments about Johnson's sick daughter before commenting.

The Sixers, booed by the Wells Fargo Center crowd throughout the game, were heavily favored to beat the Nets before the series tipped off. Game 2 is on Monday.