Game 3 against the New York Knicks had the chance to get away from the Sixers early on Thursday night.
After some egregious officiating blunders cost the Sixers at the end of Game 2, emotions were running high early in Game 3. Kyle Lowry was called for a flagrant-1 midway through the first quarter, and Joel Embiid got called for one—while perhaps narrowly avoiding another—shortly thereafter. With 4:34 left in the fourth quarter, Embiid already had two fouls, including one against Mitchell Robinson that Knicks players bemoaned as “dirty” after the game.