‘It was a dirty play’: The Knicks call out Joel Embiid and officials after Game 3 loss

After giving up 43 points in the decisive third quarter of Game 3 Thursday night, several members of the New York Knicks made known their displeasure with Joel Embiid, the in-game officiating, and their inability to withstand the Sixers’ second-half surge.

Embiid scored a game-high 50 points, including 33 in the second half and 18 in the critical third frame, while Tyrese Maxey finished with 25 points in the 125-114 victory that narrowed the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1.

A few first-half plays involving the Sixers center, however, drew the ire of several Knicks during postgame remarks.

The physical play that began in the series’ first two games continued in Thursday’s first quarter after Embiid fell on his back in the paint after contact with Knicks forward OG Anunoby, who shoveled a pass to Mitchell Robinson, who was nearly under the rim and standing above Embiid.

Embiid grabbed Robinson’s legs as he elevated toward the rim. The play was reviewed by officials and deemed a flagrant foul. Knicks guards Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo deemed it something else.

“I mean, we’re just happy Mitch didn’t get a serious injury on that,” Hart said. “I’m all for tough fouls, tough playoff fouls, but that’s something that can put a guy out for a significant amount of time.”

“It was dirty,” DiVincenzo told ESPN. “It was dirty.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid powers through Bell’s palsy for 50 as Sixers smack Knicks in the head. Literally.

Robinson eventually left the game in the second quarter with a left ankle injury after another entanglement with Embiid while contesting a jump shot.

The Knicks center was seen leaving the arena in a walking boot as he hobbled toward the team bus.

Asked if any of the play crossed a line, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said, “Nah, it’s playoff basketball.”

Thibodeau, however, was not pleased with at least some of the game’s officiating.

Embiid finished 19 of 21 from the foul line, while the Knicks shot just 19 free throws overall compared to the Sixers’ 33 attempts.

Embiid also tangled with Isaiah Hartenstein in the first half, resulting in another video review. A common foul, though, was assessed to Embiid.

Asked about the flagrant foul that actually was called on Embiid, Thibodeau said, “Which one? The one they called or the one they didn’t call? I just wanted to make sure we had clarity on that.”

Later, he added: “I’ll look at it again. I’ll send my clips in [to the league office] like I do every game, and then they’ll say, ‘marginal contact.’ And then we’ll have marginal contact on Embiid and he’ll be at the line 21 times. That’s the way it works.”

Two bright spots for the Knicks: a breakout scoring night for point guard Jalen Brunson and the continued hot shooting of Hart.

Brunson finished with 39 points on 13-for-27 shooting. He also added 13 assists. Despite shooting poorly in the first two games, Thibodeau said Brunson had been running the team’s offense efficiently. Hart finished 4 of 8 from three in Game 3, bringing his total shooting from behind the arc to 12 of 23.

Brunson sidestepped talk of his shooting performance postgame and said he was more concerned with the 43-point quarter his team allowed.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid was everything in Game 3: Maddening, marvelous, savior of a series

Brunson and Thibodeau acknowledged that a few poor possessions in the critical third quarter helped ignite the Sixers.

“Yeah, everything is important,” Thibodeau said. “Each possession is vital. We’re up three at the half, came out, they hit us and we got back on our heels and it was a problem.”

The Knicks have until Sunday to find the solution.

“Each game is gonna be different so you just gotta respond,” Thibodeau said. “This is playoff basketball. It’s gonna go up; it’s gonna escalate, and we gotta bring it. We gotta bring it. My thing is there’s two teams. They responded and now we gotta respond. We gotta do a lot better. We gotta fix it.”