Joel Embiid wasn't happy with Hassan Whiteside's antics during a pivotal 108-99 loss by the Philadelphia 76ers to the Miami Heat on Thursday night.
The Process was hit from the back and attempted to retaliate as he ran down the court during the opening minutes of the third quarter. The officials stopped the play and shortly called a double foul on both centers.
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“Looking at the replay, it looked like I didn’t touch him,” Embiid said, according to Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “Then they called a double foul. [He] tried hit me in the back, which is kind of dirty because of the fact that I’ve had back problems. So we’re going to see about that. I won’t forget about that.”
“But I didn’t think I touched him. But then they called a technical foul on him because obviously he’s the one that made a dirty play.”
Embiid noted that he wasn't bothered by the contact, but rather how Whiteside intended to get an advantage by obstructing his lane back to the offensive side of the ball.
“He hits really soft, so I didn’t feel anything,” Embiid said, ensuring to leave a sour last message. “But just the action of him trying to do that I think is pretty messed up. I don’t care what we have outside of basketball but at the same time, you’ve got to respect the rules of basketball and play basketball and have fun doing it. But I’m not worried about it. We lost the game. Right now I’m worried about are we going to get better.”
Both teams have 35 wins and are fighting for the highest possible seed in the playoffs, so things were bound to get chippy between both of these versatile big men.
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