New York Knicks
center Mitchell Robinson took the high road and quoted a powerful Bible passage in response to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid‘s flagrant foul.
“Romans 12:19 ‘Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for It is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord,” Robinson posted on his Instagram story on April 27.
Embiid’s dangerous play worsened Robinson’s ankle issues as he exited Game 3 in a walking boot. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau revealed Robinson skipped Saturday’s practice, making his availability for Game 4 and the rest of the series questionable.
Embiid’s dangerous play on Robinson came at 4:34 in the first quarter when the Sixers star, while he was on the ground, grabbed Robinson’s legs while the Knicks center was in the air.
Robinson, who was already questionable entering Game 3 with left ankle injury management, did not return after halftime.
Embiid escaped ejection as the referees unanimously decided to hit him with only a Flagrant Foul 1. He proceeded to drop a playoff career-high 50 points as the Sixers won 125-114.
“In that situation, the crew gets together, we go and review the foul. In this instance, the crew was unanimous along with the replay center official in Secaucus that this foul was unnecessary but did not rise to the level of a flagrant 2,” crew chief Zach Zarba said in the pool report. “The unnecessary contact rose to the level of a flagrant 1 but we were unanimous that this did not rise to the level of excessive contact, unnecessary and excessive, which would have been a flagrant 2 ejection. That’s why we kept it a flagrant 1.”
Donte DiVincenzo Calls Joel Embiid’s Flagrant Foul ‘Dirty’
Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo did not mince words and slammed Embiid’s dangerous foul on Robinson.
“It was dirty,” DiVincenzo told reporters, per New York Post. “It was dirty.”
ESPN analyst Jay Williams agreed with DiVincenzo’s assessment of Embiid’s action which put Robinson’s health in jeopardy.
“As much as I love that [Embiid’s 50-point game], in the first quarter when he grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s legs — now look I want to see the players determine the game more than anything and I know the referees feel like they would have not gotten out of that arena in Philadelphia had they called Flagrant [foul] 2 — that play alone on Mitchell Robinson while he was on the ground grabbing the knee of another player while he is in the air … deserved a Flagrant 2,” Williams said on “Get Up” on April 26.
Tom Thibodeau Slams Officiating
Thibodeau ripped the officiating in Game 3 which saw the referees rewarding Embiid with 21 free throw attempts.
“I’m not a journalist but if I were a journalist I’d write a couple things,” Thibodeau told reporters following Saturday’s practice. “I think the consistency — look at that play and then look at the Josh Hart play in Chicago. That’s my thing.”
Hart was ejected in Chicago for kicking Bulls player Javonte Green in a 108-100 Knicks loss on April 6.
Embiid’s dangerous foul on Robinson was not the only one that Thibodeau griped about. The Sixers star center also hit Isaiah Hartenstein in the groin later in the game.
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