On a night when James Harden was shockingly thrown out for striking an opponent in the groin area, Joel Embiid avoided ejection for a kick of Nic Claxton.
While Harden portrayed his confusion on his call while speaking with reporters postgame, Embiid pleaded the fifth when asked about his kick following 76ers’ 102–97 win over the Nets in Game 3.
While speaking to the media, Embiid had a succinct answer when asked about the first-quarter dustup: “I honestly didn’t remember the play.”
He did, of course, remember the play in which Claxton got ejected after receiving a second technical foul in the fourth quarter, causing reporters to break out out in laughter.
Joel Embiid on the Flagrant 1 against Claxton: “I honestly didn’t remember the play.”
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) April 21, 2023
On if he remembers Claxton getting ejected: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/lbV7eWNYxi
“The whole game you could see what they were doing, just trying to get a rise out of me,” Embiid said. “I’m too valuable, especially after the first one, I just understood I’m too valuable to get into this stuff.”
The seven-year veteran was his usual outspoken self, but displayed just enough restraint to not earn himself an ejection of his own.
“You can see the game plan was to make me get frustrated so I could get ejected, but I am just too mature to put myself in that position and I just went about my business and we got the win,” Embiid said.
Philadelphia took a 3–0 series lead over Brooklyn, on the strength of a double-double (14 points, 14 rebounds) by Embiid as well as a team-high 25 points by Tyrese Maxey. And while Embiid may not recollect the skirmish with Claxton, the Nets center likely won’t soon forget it as Philly will look to close out the first-round matchup on Saturday.
