The moments of tension between Joel Embiid and Marcus Smart have been recurring for a few years, and the two players always end up hanging on at one point or another in the meetings between Boston and Philadelphia. The first game of the season was no exception.
Early in the second period, the Sixers center and Celtics point guard battle for a rebound. It is the first who captures the ball and the rest is told by the second.
“I went to the rebound, I tried to intercept and the referee called a foul”starts the runner-up 2022 for Mass Live. “I stopped my action and my arm was blocked. He tried to break it for me. And in the end, I am the only one to take a technical fault. Everyone has seen it. »
Angry and on the ground, the Boston player held the leg of Joel Embiid, who was trying to get going. The Sixers All-Star surely added more by falling, before Jaylen Brown joined the two men, already separated by a referee. Marcus Smart does not understand that the pivot is doing well and not him.
“I don’t need to talk about it any more because otherwise I’m expelled, financially sanctioned and suspended for three or four matches. But being the only one sanctioned in this case is beyond me. Especially since I am the defender of the year. Being treated like that is hard. Afterwards, I could have run into him, but I didn’t. It’s maturity. »
For his part, Joel Embiid did not want to add or comment on the words of his opponent. “The referees called a foul, I left and immediately they grabbed my foot, I slipped and Jaylen Brown was on top of me. It’s basketball, there’s emotion, it’s the first game of the season. It’s the Boston-Philadelphia rivalry, there’s a lot of intensity. It is very good. »
