With around four minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers' Wednesday night tilt against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Joel Embiid found himself isolated on Evan Mobley in the high post. Mobley seemed to play good defense on the Sixers star, even drawing a charge that wiped away Embiid's bucket, keeping the Cavs' deficit at seven. To make matters better for the Cavs, that would have been the sixth foul on Embiid.
However, the officials overturned the call and counted Embiid's two points, extending the Sixers' lead to nine. That, essentially, was the turning point of the contest, as the Cavs ended up losing, 118-109.
The Sixers' decision to challenge the call proved to be a huge, if risky move; after all, it looked like Joel Embiid warded off Evan Mobley by lowering his shoulder and sending him flying towards the baseline. But for Embiid, the outcome of the challenge was never in doubt.
“I didn't think I had extended anything. I watch basketball every day. And based on the way, those are officiated — we got some guys that basically play like running backs in this league that get that call all the time. I was pretty confident,” Embiid said, per Rich Hofmann of The Athletic.
While the Sixers star did not drop names, some fans may have an idea for who Embiid is pertaining to when it comes to “guys that play like running backs”. This seemed to be a particularly pertinent topic for Phoenix Suns fans, after watching Giannis Antetokounmpo bulldoze his way towards the rim and onto the foul line over and over on Tuesday night. Thus, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the Milwaukee Bucks star is leading the league in free-throw attempts per game.
Nonetheless, charge and blocking calls are bang-bang plays that could go either way, only this time, it went in the Sixers' favor. While Cavs head coach JB Bickerstaff expressed his frustration over getting the short end of the stick, Joel Embiid believes that Evan Mobley was trying to exaggerate contact just to try and get him out of the game.
“You could tell right before the hit, he was trying to flop and fall,” Embiid added.
It'll be interesting to see how the next Sixers-Cavs matchup turns out. However, that won't happen this season unless they face each other in the playoffs.
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