Even though Philadelphia was able to rally back to beat San Antonio 111-106, it came at a huge cost. In a bizarre night, Joel Embiid was ejected for drawing two technical fouls and then argued a charge call, while teammate Andre Drummond suffered another ejection that was later rescinded as he returned back to court.
During the first half of this Monday night clash, the 76ers big man drove towards the basket in transition as his rival Victor Wembanyama hoped to defend. Joel crashed into the 20-year-old, knocking him down to the floor. With 2:59 left in the second quarter, the referees whistled for a charging foul, which Embiif argued against the call.
This led to a technical foul from referee Jenny Schroeder, as the 76ers center headed towards his team’s bench. Once there, the former league MVP had to be restrained by his own teammate Kyle Lowry, his coach Nick Nurse and many assistants as the official issued yet another technical foul, resulting in his second-ever career ejection.
Even though Embiid did get close to Schroeder, there was no evidence that proved he made contact with the referee. Crew chief Curtis Blair referred to this situation after the game, saying that there was “incidental contact with both of them” during the play, later adding that, “There was nothing that warranted any further punishment.”
As for the Philadelphia coach, he assure the never received an explanation for the official’s decision. “I couldn’t ever really get to the referee that called it,” Nurse shared. “So, I was asking the other guys and they were saying to ask her, and I never really got a chance. I just assume it was [for] arguing or whatever.”
Blair simply stated the veteran big man was ejected for two unsportsmanlike technical fouls. “The whole thing was really strange,” the Sixers tactician insisted.
What happened during Drummond’s ejection against the Spurs?
According to the pool report, Drummond did step on Wembanyama’s foot, who fell to the group but then quickly got up without any complaints. Eventually, the play was deemed incidental, even though the Sixers center had already departed for the locker room.
Once inside, he was called out to play again. In the broadcast, he was seen putting on his jersey again while walking fast down the tunnel and towards the court. “He just stepped on my foot, and I fell,” Wembanyama shared postgame. “I didn’t expect the foul to be called. I just fell.”
His coach Mitch Johnson, who has been serving as interim while Gregg Popovich continues to recover from a stroke, agreed with the Spurs superstar. “I don’t think it was a foul on them, and I don’t think it was a flop [on Wembanyama],” he told the press. “That’s kind of how I saw it up to that point.”
