Report: NBA won't rescind Embiid's flagrant foul
Joel Embiid's flagrant-1 foul during Thursday's pivotal Game 6 win over the Toronto Raptors won't be rescinded by the NBA, league sources told ESPN's Tim Bontemps.
The Philadelphia 76ers center slapped Marc Gasol while attempting to box him out with 4:47 remaining in the fourth quarter and was penalized by the officials upon further review.
Flagrant 1 on Joel Embiid for slapping Marc Gasol on the box out pic.twitter.com/40egU0AqUh
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 10, 2019
Embiid has now accumulated three flagrant-foul points during the postseason. Another flagrant-1 foul will automatically earn him a one-game suspension while a two-game suspension will be enforced for a flagrant-2 foul.
"It's annoying. It's stupid," Embiid told reporters postgame, according to The Associated Press. "I saw the video of it. It doesn't look that bad. I guess I've got one more and I'm gone for one game so I've got to look out for it."
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green was infamously suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals after picking up his fourth flagrant-foul point of the playoffs during a Game 4 skirmish with LeBron James.
Embiid is averaging 20.4 points, 10.4 boards, and 2.2 blocks per contest across 10 playoff appearances, but Gasol has kept him mostly in check during their second-round series.
Philadelphia and Toronto square off in Game 7 on Sunday for the right to face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference finals.