Sixers to file complaint with NBA over officiating in Knicks series

The Sixers intend to file a complaint with the NBA about the officiating in Game 1 and Game 2 of their series vs. the New York Knicks, according to a team spokesperson who spoke to PHLY Sports.

Philadelphia has a laundry list of concerns they want to present to the league, including but not limited to the following:

• The Sixers were disadvantaged by two calls in the last two-minute report from Game 1 — an incorrect no-call on a foul from Mitchell Robinson on Tyrese Maxey, and an incorrect no-call on a traveling violation committed by Jalen Brunson
• Philadelphia believes Nick Nurse called for a timeout twice on the inbounds pass that swung the game in the final minute, once prior to the inbounds pass and once following the ball getting to Tyrese Maxey on the floor
• The Knicks have included private information about the referees in their game notes
• The Sixers have been the most disadvantaged team in the last two-minute report this season. A report compiled in early April showed that the Sixers had been disadvantaged on 22 calls in these reports during the regular season compared to 11 such errors going against opposing teams, the worst such ratio in the NBA.

In addition to these issues, PHLY learned on Monday that the NBA ruled that a pool report to question the referees following the conclusion of Game 2 was not allowed.

The NBA said that the local pool reporter’s request had come outside of the allotted postgame window. Game 2 ended at approximately 10:11 local time, with the NBA claiming that the request from the pool reporter came around 10:54. Pool requests are expected to be made within 15 minutes of the game’s conclusion.

As of late Monday evening, the Sixers are in the process of reaching out to the league and expressing their concerns.

Philadelphia’s main grievance from Game 2 came in the final seconds of the game, when a Kyle Lowry inbounds pass to Tyrese Maxey went awry along the baseline. Two main contentions were made here. The first came from head coach Nick Nurse, who told reporters following the game that he had signaled for a timeout while the ball was still in Lowry’s hands.

“I called a timeout, the referee looked right at me, ignored me,” Nurse said. “It went into Tyrese, I called timeout again, then the melee started. I guess I got to run out onto the floor and do something to get his attention. Needed a timeout there to advance it, would have been good, couldn’t get it.”

Replay footage appears to show Nurse putting his hands up for a timeout prior to the ball going into play.

Franchise center Joel Embiid had a different gripe when he sat down to talk to reporters following the conclusion of the game. Embiid believed that Tyrese Maxey was fouled in the process of getting the ball from Lowry, calling the lack of a call “fucking unacceptable” in an extended rant about the non-call.

“Unacceptable,” Joel Embiid said. “Tyrese got fouled a couple of times, we just had the same thing happen against Miami with Tyler Herro. That’s just unacceptable to put us in this situation. That’s fucking unacceptable to lose a game like this, especially in the playoffs.”

On replay review, Jalen Brunson hooks Tyrese Maxey as he is first going to get the ball, in a similar fashion to Nic Batum hooking Tyler Herro in the play-in game. Batum was called for an away-from-the-play foul for that infraction, leading to a free throw for the Heat.

Embiid would continue, noting that he was more concerned with the lack of a foul than their attempts to call timeout. Still, he conceded there were attempts made by several Sixers ahead of the inbounds play.

“Yes, we did [get a timeout in]. Everybody on the floor was trying to call a timeout, myself included. Nico, coach on the sideline, but they didn’t give it to us. Forget about the timeout, there’s a bunch of fouls. Like I said, that’s fucking unacceptable.”

This story is developing.