Joel Embiid has once again drawn the ire of New York Knicks fans with a questionable move.
The Philadelphia 76ers star Embiid delivered yet another controversial play during Sunday’s Game 4 against the Knicks that had fans crying foul. Knicks forward Josh Hart was driving on Embiid for a layup attempt in the second half and successfully drew the foul on the seven-footer. But after the whistle blew, Embiid went backwards into Hart, who had fallen to the ground, and stepped directly on Hart’s left shin, causing Hart to grab his leg in pain.
Here is the video (from a couple of different angles).
https://twitter.com/d9Hoops/status/1784657891003093485
https://twitter.com/perryoragentp_/status/1784657767229218839
Hart ultimately appeared to be OK, and it didn’t seem like there was any intent on Embiid’s part as he even reached out immediately to see if Hart was alright. But Embiid still drew backlash on social media over the play, especially given his history of recklessly throwing his body around.
It is easy to understand why Knicks fans do not want to give Embiid the benefit of the doubt at this point. During Game 3 of the series on Thursday, Embiid had multiple suspect moments and was even whistled for a flagrant foul in the very first quarter (see the video compilation here). In response, a Knicks legend called for the team to put Embiid in his place.
The Knicks did not do anything physically to retaliate against Embiid in Game 4. Instead, they outworked the reigning MVP on both ends, holding him to 7-for-19 shooting and gobbling up 52 rebounds as a team. That was good enough for the Knicks to win by the final of 97-92, taking a 3-1 series lead and forcing Embiid to vent his frustrations to the media afterwards.
