Philadelphia 76ers standout James Harden continuously expressed his disapproval over being ejected for a foul committed against Brooklyn Nets forward Royce O’Neale in the closing moments of the third quarter during Philadelphia’s 102-97 win in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night. This incident was one of multiple contentious interactions involving the officials throughout the match.
«Unacceptable – Harden said in the locker room – Unacceptable flagrant 2. First time I’ve been ejected. I’m not labeled as a dirty player, and I didn’t hit him in a private area. Somebody is draped on you like that defensively, that’s a natural basketball reaction. I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that. But for a flagrant 2, it’s unacceptable. This is a playoff game. We’ve seen around the league, things are much worse than what that play was. Honestly I didn’t think it was a foul on me. But that’s unacceptable. It can’t happen».
Nonetheless, the officials held a different opinion. Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s Senior Vice President of Referee Development and Training, mentioned in an in-game interview on TNT that the officials deemed the contact to the groin as “excessive and unnecessary.” Following the game, crew chief Tony Brothers echoed this viewpoint in a pool report.
«Based on the point of contact directly to the groin, it rose to the level of excessive and ejection».
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