Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid couldn’t hide his frustration Monday night despite his boast that his team is better than the Knicks after a heartbreaking Game 2 loss that puts the Knicks ahead 2-0 in the first-round NBA playoff series.
And ex-76er and TNT analyst Charles Barkley was not thrilled with Embiid’s lack of leadership after Philadelphia’s 104-101 loss.
“What I’d like to see from Joel, he’s got to get his head up,” Barkley said during the postgame show. “As the leader of the team, he cannot have his head down.
“He’s got to say, ‘Guys, we’re fine. They did what they supposed to do. Now, we gotta go home and win Game 3 and 4.’”
After the brutal loss that concluded with a Tyrese Maxey turnover followed by a Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer to take the lead, Embiid lambasted the referees for not calling a foul during the inbounds play.
“But forget about the timeouts. There was a bunch of fouls. Like I said, that’s f—king unacceptable,” Embiid said while holding his head and scratching his eyes.
With referees not granting Nick Nurse or any other 76er a timeout, the team decided to file a complaint with the league over the officiating.
But as the TNT crew pointed out, Philly should’ve called timeout immediately after Jalen Brunson’s 3-pointer clanked the front iron and dropped to cut the Sixers’ lead to 101-99.
Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal noted that once Brunson’s 3-pointer took an Allan Houston-like bounce on the Brunson 3-pointer, it should’ve been met by an immediate timeout.
“Call timeout right now,” Barkley said as Nurse had still not yet motioned for time, despite Kyle Lowry looking to pass to Maxey.
There was then some debate over whether the Knicks fouled Maxey during the inbounds; Shaq called the play “subjective” and said that Maxey could not be “flailing and falling” during such a pivotal play.
“When you get the ball on the side, you can’t be flailing and flopping around looking for the bell,” Shaq said. “Did he get fouled? Maybe. But still, you got to get it and hold it.”
The 76ers get another chance in Philadelphia on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, where Embiid will look to lead his team in a must-win game.
