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Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers rallied to beat the Spurs 111-106 despite a chaotic opening half that included Joel Embiid getting ejected after drawing two quick technical fouls for arguing a charge call — and another ejection for teammate Andre Drummond that was later rescinded in a bizarre scene Monday night.
Driving to the basket in transition as San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama attempted to defend, Embiid plowed into the 20-year-old French phenom, knocking him to the floor. Embiid was whistled for a charging foul with 2:59 left in the first half.
Embiid stood up immediately and vehemently argued the call, leading to a technical foul from referee Jenna Schroeder as the center headed toward the Philadelphia bench.
Once near the bench area, a furious Embiid charged toward the officials and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, coach Nick Nurse and several assistants as Schroeder issued another technical foul, leading to Embiid’s second career ejection.
Embiid got close to Schroeder during the initial technical foul, but it wasn’t clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. After the game, crew chief Curtis Blair said to a pool reporter that there was “incidental contact with both of them” during the sequence, but added, “There was nothing that warranted any further punishment.”
Nurse said he never received an explanation for Embiid’s ejection.
“I couldn’t ever really get to the referee that called it,” Nurse said. “So, I was asking the other guys and they were saying to ask her, and I never really got a chance. I just assume it was [for] arguing or whatever.”
Blair said that Embiid was ejected for two unsportsmanlike technical fouls.
Wearing a mask while playing in just his second game since suffering a sinus fracture, Embiid had nine points and three rebounds in 14 minutes, shooting 2-for-8. He entered the game averaging 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
It was the second ejection of the quarter by Schroeder, although the first was rescinded in a strange sequence. Drummond, the 76ers’ reserve center, was whistled for a technical foul with 8:13 remaining in the first half after pushing Wembanyama to the floor as the two battled under the basket. Seconds later, Drummond appeared to push Wembanyama down again.
Drummond was initially called for his second technical foul and ejected. After video review, however, the officials rescinded the ejection. Then, they assessed Wembanyama with a technical foul for flopping. Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey made the free throw, only for the officials to rescind the “unsportsmanlike flop” technical, remove the point from the 76ers’ total and restart the game.
“The whole thing was really strange,” Nurse said.
According to the pool report, it was determined that Drummond stepped on Wembanyama’s foot and the contact was deemed incidental.
Drummond, who had already departed for the locker room, was seen on the broadcast putting his jersey back on as he came down the tunnel toward the court.
“He just stepped on my foot, and I fell,” Wembanyama said. “I didn’t expect the foul to be called. I just fell.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, who is in charge as Gregg Popovich recovers from a stroke, agreed.
“I don’t think it was a foul on them, and I don’t think it was a flop [on Wembanyama],” he said. “That’s kind of how I saw it up to that point.”
Those incidents led to Philadelphia fans relentlessly booing Wembanyama every time he touched the ball. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks. But Maxey scored 32 points and made two crucial plays in the final minute to help the 76ers complete the comeback.
Embiid, who was playing in just his eighth game, returned to the court after the win and was smiling as he celebrated with his teammates.
Embiid did not address the incident afterward. According to a team official, Embiid left the arena when reporters were in the locker room for postgame media availability.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com