ICYMI: Joel Embiid gets into an argument with Nick Nurse, later reveals the cause for the war of words
Things got chippy between Joel Embiid and Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse after Game 2 of the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. The Philadelphia 76ers cruised to another victory against the Toronto Raptors and now lead the first-round series 2-0.
The game got out of hand for the Raptors in the second and third quarters as the Sixers outscored them 63-38 in that span. The free-throw disparity was one of the biggest takeaways from the game and Nick Nurse wasn't a fan of the friendly whistle towards Joel Embiid. After the game was practically over, an exchange between Embiid and coach Nurse started to get heated during the final seconds of the match.
Joel Embiid and Nick Nurse had words for each other at the end of the game. https://t.co/6JihHL5d9A
According to The Athletic's Tas Melas, they were arguing about biased officiating during the game. Coach Nurse was upset that Embiid was getting all the calls he wanted, so the Cameroonian retorted that the Raptors were fouling him constantly. Joel Embiid was asked about the exchange in the postgame interview and he answered:
"He's a great coach obviously...What he's been able to accomplish and I'll always be a big fan. But I told him, respectfully, to stop b****ing about calls"
Joel Embiid explains what he told Nick Nurse at the end of Game 2 👀😅 https://t.co/tUToBrJdlx
It is understandable why coach Nick Nurse would be frustrated at the referees and the increased free-throw attempts for the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers attempted 30 free throws compared to just 12 for the Toronto Raptors. In fact, Joel Embiid attempted 14 foul shots and outscored the opponents from the charity stripe by himself.
Joel Embiid and James Harden have a reputation for drawing fouls on purpose. They were top 5 in free throws attempted and made in the regular season and Embiid, in fact, led the league in that category by a wide margin. Any playoff series is going to get frustrating for opponents when the two best scorers in the Sixers are constantly putting the defense on edge with their foul-baiting.
Nick Nurse on his late exchange with Joel Embiid:
“(Embiid) said, ‘I’m gonna keep making all my free throws if you keep fouling me,’ and I said, ‘Well, you might have to.’”
Joel Embiid finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 9-16 from the field. He made no assists and converted 12 of his 14 free-throw attempts.
Nick Nurse calls out the officiating towards Joel Embiid in Game 1
Game 2 wasn't the first time coach Nick Nurse got upset at the friendly whistle for Joel Embiid. The heated exchange at the end of Game 2 was a result of the frustration that built up from Game 1. He called out the referees for subpar officiating after the first matchup at Wells Fargo Center, suggesting that Embiid's offensive fouls aren't getting called.
He said:
"We’ve got to believe that if we’re legal defensively that they're going to call those...Like we had a couple of times where we beat him to the spot, and he bulled us right over, and they just let him lay it in. I don't care if you're 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds. If you beat him to the spot and he runs over, it's a foul. I thought he threw three or four elbows to the face. He got called for one."
Nick Nurse talks about lack of calls on Embiid https://t.co/f4ezgMlHzo
Coach Nurse continued that the Toronto Raptors are going to continue playing defense the right way and they hope that the whistle blows in their favor moving forward in the series. Nurse said:
"I mean, we're gonna stand in there. We just need, if we’re legal defensively, then we’ve got to have them called, or we don't have a chance, period. Nobody can guard that guy if they’re just gonna let him run you over time and time again. We're gonna stand in there, and we'll see if we don't get a few more elbows to the face calls and a few more beat him to the spot calls."
Here's Nick Nurse's full comments on Joel Embiid's physicality following the #Raptors' loss to the #76ers:
"I don't care if you're 5'11 and 160 pounds, if you beat him to the spot and he runs you over, it's a foul." twitter.com/adam_la2karis/… https://t.co/0DKbkifvoq
As officiating and free throws continued in Game 2 as well, there was visible frustration on coach Nick Nurse's face which eventually led to a heated postgame exchange with Joel Embiid.