Add Nick Nurse to the growing list of “Troel Embiid” victims.
The Toronto Raptors coach Nurse had a viral exchange with Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid in the closing seconds of Monday’s Game 2. With the 76ers about to win to take a 2-0 series lead, Nurse engaged Embiid in an animated conversation that seemed to get progressively more heated.
Joel Embiid and Nick Nurse had words for each other at the end of the game. https://t.co/6JihHL5d9A
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 19, 2022
After the game, Embiid revealed what was said during his back-and-forth with Nurse.
“He’s a great coach obviously, what he has been able to accomplish,” said Embiid of Nurse, per NBC Sports Philly. “I’ve always been a big fan. But I told him, respectfully told him to stop b—-ing about calls.”
For his part, Nurse was a bit more diplomatic, saying afterwards that his chat with Embiid was centered around free throws.
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.’”
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 19, 2022
Embiid shot 14 free throws during Game 2, making 12 of them. Meanwhile, Toronto shot just 12 as a team all game while Philly had 30 attempts in total.
Nurse was already unhappy about the whistle that the Raptors was getting, sounding off on the officiating after his team’s loss in Game 1. But he won’t be getting any sympathy from Embiid, who now has 50 points through the first two games of the series and some free real estate inside Nurse’s head.
