The Knicks' Tom Thibodeau anticipated a tough third-round Eastern Conference matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Several players who talked with reporters following Thursday's 125-114 loss felt that Joel Embiid's Flagrant 1 foul on Mitchell Robinson, which occurred at 4:34 of the first quarter and involved grabbing Robinson's calf and knocking him down, went too far.
"I think the grab that he did on Mitch was dirty," remarked Donte DiVincenzo, who addressed Embiid following the games.
In his postgame news conference, Thibodeau proposed that a pool reporter question crew chief Zach Zarba about the lack of a Flagrant 2 foul for Embiid's actions, which Isaiah Hartenstein characterized as "not a basketball play."
"In that situation, the crew gets together, we go and review the foul," stated Zarba. This foul was needless but did not constitute a Flagrant 2, according to the crew and the Secaucus replay center official. The level of flagrant 1 contact was reached due to the needless contact, but we all agreed that it did not reach the level of flagrant 2 ejection due to the excessive touch that was neither essential nor excessive. We kept it at a Flagrant 1 because of that.
After sitting out the second half due to a left ankle sprain, Robinson walked out of Wells Fargo Center in a walking boot; however, his future status is uncertain.
Josh Hart expressed his relief that Mitch was not gravely hurt on the incident. difficult fouls or playing difficult fouls in the playoffs are fine with me, but that can really hurt a player's game. It is what it is, and I'm just grateful he wasn't harmed worse at that moment. With a 2-1 series lead, the Knicks will likely face the 76ers' strongest team in Sunday's 1 p.m. Game 4.
The outcome of Game 3 was already decided, according to Hart. "Come on, already. Given the outcome of Game 2, we were already aware. We had a good idea. So, am I taken aback? Absolutely not. Ultimately, it's time to put this behind us.