Things between the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets escalated Saturday during Game 4 in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
What started as an obvious foul from Joel Embiid on Nets center Jarrett Allen as he went up for a shot underneath the basket quickly turned into a large scuffle between the two teams and overflowed into the sidelines.
Seconds delayed after Embiid’s foul in the middle of the third quarter, Nets forward Jared Dudley came charging at the Sixers center and gave him a little shove. That’s when Sixers guard Jimmy Butler jumped in and much more forcefully pushed Dudley, which led to a full-on shoving match as several players ended up on top of fans sitting courtside.
While Embiid was given a Flagrant 1 foul for his aggressive foul on Allen, Butler and Dudley were dealt technicals and ejected for being escalators. Allen went to the line and sank both free throws.
Butler left the game with 11 points, four assists and four rebounds in 24 minutes, while Dudley eight points and five assists.
Update: The Sixers won, 112-108, to take a 3-1 series lead.
This is just the latest clash between these two teams, aside from being opponents in the playoffs.
Embiid also picked up a Flagrant 1 for an elbow to Allen’s face in Game 2 of the series. And then when he tried to apologize during a press conference, he and Ben Simmons ended up laughing instead, which Nets guard Caris LeVert later called “disrespectful.”
Dudley also called Simmons “average,” and Simmons responded with: “It’s coming from Jared Dudley, come on.”
Fans reacted to the double ejection with mixed feelings while also pointing out that it looked like the Nets got the better end of the deal because Butler was tossed along with Dudley.
