Photo Credit: Derik Hamilton/AP Photo
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn didn’t hold back on the officiating after their 121-101 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, suggesting that the referees were favoring Sixers superstar Joel Embiid.
In Game 1, Embiid had 26 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on 46.7% shooting from the field while going 11/11 from the charity stripe. Vaughn was not happy that the referees did not call travel and three-second violations on the Sixers big man.
“Hopefully they’ll be calling travel and three seconds on the big fella (Joel Embiid) next game. So I’ll be looking forward to that,” Vaughn said on Saturday.
Embiid ultimately caught wind of Vaughn’s comments and dismissed it quickly after Sixers’ Game 2 victory over the Nets on Monday.
While making his response, Embiid couldn’t help but compare Vaughn to Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse given that Nurse had similar issues about the way Embiid was officiated in their first-round series against the Sixers last season.
“I saw after the game last time, they (Nets) kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees,” Embiid said. “Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.”
Raptors coach Nick Nurse caught a stray from Joel Embiid 😂
“I saw after the game last time, they (Nets) kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws and calling out the referees. Then they come out and they got a lot of calls, which I guess is good for them.” pic.twitter.com/xlCvITf7hq
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) April 18, 2023
