The Philadelphia 76ers have filed a formal complaint with the league over officiating in the first two games of their playoff series opener against the New York Knicks, team officials told ESPN on Monday night.
The 76ers’ move comes on the heels of Monday’s 104-101 loss to the Knicks in Game 2 of the series at Madison Square Garden. After this victory, the Knicks took a 2-0 lead in the series.
The 76ers plan to file a complaint with the NBA over the officiating for the first two games of this series, a team spokesperson told ESPN.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 23, 2024
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic,, this complaint is not an official protest against the loss of Game 2, so it is valid regardless of its outcome. Instead, the 76ers wanted to find a way to express their dissatisfaction with the officiating in the postseason. The team will say in its complaint that the Sixers were “at a disadvantage compared to any other team” in the league because of their officiating, according to the report.
The final stages of the second game were chaotic. The Knicks led the 76ers by five points with 32 seconds left, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo put the Knicks ahead. DiVincenzo’s bucket came after an outrageous sequence in which Josh Hart stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey on the sideline after an inbounds pass.
Maxey was knocked to the ground during the scramble, but no foul was called.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse said after the game that he tried to take multiple timeouts during that frenetic finish but was denied.
“Call timeout [before the inbound]. The referee looked straight at me and ignored me,” the nurse said. via Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “That got to Tyrese. I called another timeout. Then the scuffle started…I think I had to jump out on the floor or do something to make sure I got his attention.”
Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid also said he was trying to take a timeout there. After the match, he reiterated that this loss was unacceptable.
“Everyone on the floor was trying to take a timeout, myself included… and they didn’t give us a timeout,” Embiid said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “But forget about timeouts. There are a lot of fouls. Like I said, that’s very unacceptable.”
“Everyone on the floor was trying to call a timeout, including myself and coach Niko on the sideline, but they didn’t give us a timeout.”
Joel Embiid was noticeably frustrated after the Sixers’ Game 2 loss, but he knows his team still has the ability to win this series. pic.twitter.com/RD7lJFlp5J
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 23, 2024
The 76ers plan to use information from reports from the end of the regular season and the final two minutes of Game 1 games to make their case. They will likely cite other examples beyond the Monday night timeout complaint to make their case, but it’s unclear what will happen with those complaints.
Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
“We’re doing well,” Embiid said. “We’re going to win this series. We’re going to win this.”