The Philadelphia 76ers are filing an official complaint with the league over the officiating in the first two games of their opening-round playoff series with the New York Knicks.
The 76ers’ move came on the heels of their 104-101 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 of their series on Monday at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks took a 2-0 series lead after that victory.
The 76ers plan to file a complaint with the NBA about the officiating in the first two games of this series, a team spokesperson told ESPN.
-Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 23, 2024
, the complaint is not an official protest for the Game 2 loss – so the result will stand regardless. Instead, the 76ers wanted to find a way to express their displeasure with the officiating so far in the postseason. The team will say in the complaint that it “is at a disadvantage more than any other team” in the league when it comes to officiating, according to the report.
The end of Game 2 was extremely chaotic. The Knicks trailed the 76ers by five points with 32 seconds left, but Jalen Brunson and Dante DiVincenzo hit consecutive 3-pointers to suddenly put the Knicks ahead. DiVincenzo’s bucket came after a ridiculous sequence when Josh Hart stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey on the wing after an inbounds pass.
Maxey was knocked to the ground during the melee, but no foul was called.
76ers coach Nick Nurse said after the game that he also tried to call a timeout several times but was unable to do so.
“I call time out [before the inbound]. The referee looked directly at me and ignored me,” said the nurse, . “It was for Tyrese. I called timeout again. Then the chaos started… I think I need to run to the ground or do something to get his attention.”
76ers star Joel Embiid said he was also trying to call a timeout. The defeat, he said repeatedly after the game, was unacceptable.
“Everyone on the court was trying to call a timeout, including me… But they didn’t give it to us,” Embiid said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “But forget the timeout, there are a lot of fouls. As I said, this is unacceptable.”
“Everyone on the court was trying to call a timeout, including me, Nico, the coach on the sideline, but they didn’t give it to us.”
Joel Embiid was visibly frustrated after the Sixers’ Game 2 loss, but he knows his team is still capable of winning this series. pic.twitter.com/RD7lJFlp5J
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 23, 2024
The 76ers will use information from the last two minutes of game reports late in the regular season and Game 1 to make their case. They will certainly point to other examples besides Monday night’s timeout complaint to make their point as well, although it’s unclear what will come of the complaint.
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
“We’re good,” Embiid said. “We are going to win this series. We will beat this.
