Nic Claxton, Joel Embiid speak verbal alternate throughout chippy Nets, 76ers recreation
It felt like a boxing match between the Nets and 76ers in Philadelphia on Wednesday night time.
Not solely have been each groups — poised to make the playoffs — seeking to present the opposite who was higher, nevertheless it was bodily and heated at instances.
None extra heated than when Joel Embiid and Nic Claxton acquired into one another’s face after what the Philly heart felt was a foul on his shot try. What resulted was a whole lot of jawing and, finally, double technicals earlier than cooler heads prevailed.
“I blocked his shot, he was upset there was no foul name. I mentioned one thing to him, he instructed me to repeat it, I repeated it and he walked up on me,” Claxton mentioned after the sport. “I do not know the way I acquired a tech after I mentioned one factor and I’m simply sitting there standing. I’ll take it, it’s a double tech. It is simply competitors, simply having some enjoyable. That’s all it’s.”
Embiid noticed the occasions of that incident a bit otherwise.
“He mentioned one thing he shouldn’t have,” the previous No. 3 general decide mentioned. “That is why after I walked as much as his face, I instructed him to say it to my face once more. That is why he appeared away and he did not say it once more. He is aware of why.”
The theme of the night time was “chippiness.” Each groups have been fouling arduous, arguing with the refs, greater than regular, and speaking a whole lot of smack. It was a playoff ambiance and it was obvious that every facet wished to win this recreation, and the Nets regardless of being down 17 at one level made a comeback that fell just short.
“That’s what you count on coming right here. As a competitor that’s what you need. You like coming into an setting like a Philly or Boston,” Claxton mentioned. “There’s not many locations which have the group actually into it like they have been tonight. It was a hostile setting and it’s simply powerful to take an L.”
“There’s a distinction between depth and enjoying with emotion, and being too emotional. I believed, actually, on our facet we have been on the flawed facet of that tonight,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers mentioned. “We‘ll take the win. …That’s check for us. We now have to be higher so far as in dealing with our feelings in a recreation like this.”
After Wednesday’s recreation, the 76ers elevated their lead over the Nets to 2 video games. That’s the quantity of video games that separate the No. 2 76ers and No. 4 seeded Nets within the Jap Convention, so each win is essential.
It’s additionally the second win by the 76ers over Brooklyn this season. The primary coming in November, once more, at Philly.
If the Nets hope to beat the 76ers within the standings, they’ll have one other crack at them on Feb. 11 after they’ll take their budding rivalry to Brooklyn, earlier than ending the common season towards one another on April 9 at Barclays Heart.