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JOEL EMBIID EJECTED UN CHAOTIC FIRST HALF OF 76ERS WIN VS. SOAIN

 PHILADELPHIA -- The 76ers rallied to beat the Spurs 111-106 despite a chaotic opening half that included Joel Embiid getting ejected after drawing two quick technical fouls for arguing a charge call -- and another ejection for teammate Andre Drummond that was later rescinded in a bizarre scene Monday night.

Driving to the basket in transition as San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama attempted to defend, Embiid plowed into the 20-year-old French phenom, knocking him to the floor. Embiid was whistled for a charging foul with 2:59 left in the first half.

Embiid stood up immediately and vehemently argued the call, leading to a technical foul from referee Jenna Schroeder as the center headed toward the Philadelphia bench.

Once near the bench area, a furious Embiid charged toward the officials and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, coach Nick Nurse and several assistants as Schroeder issued another technical foul, leading to Embiid's second career ejection.

Embiid got close to Schroeder during the initial technical foul, but it wasn't clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. After the game, crew chief Curtis Blair said to a pool reporter that there was "incidental contact with both of them" during the sequence, but added, "There was nothing that warranted any further punishment."

Nurse said he never received an explanation for Embiid's ejection.

"I couldn't ever really get to the referee that called it," Nurse said. "So, I was asking the other guys and they were saying to ask her, and I never really got a chance. I just assume it was [for] arguing or whatever."

Blair said that Embiid was ejected for two unsportsmanlike technical fouls.

Wearing a mask while playing in just his second game since suffering a sinus fracture, Embiid had nine points and three rebounds in 14 minutes, shooting 2-for-8. He entered the game averaging 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

It was the second ejection of the quarter by Schroeder, although the first was rescinded in a strange sequence. Drummond, the 76ers' reserve center, was whistled for a technical foul with 8:13 remaining in the first half after pushing Wembanyama to the floor as the two battled under the basket. Seconds later, Drummond appeared to push Wembanyama down again.

Drummond was initially called for his second technical foul and ejected. After video review, however, the officials rescinded the ejection. Then, they assessed Wembanyama with a technical foul for flopping. Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey made the free throw, only for the officials to rescind the "unsportsmanlike flop" technical, remove the point from the 76ers' total and restart the game.

"The whole thing was really strange," Nurse said.

According to the pool report, it was determined that Drummond stepped on Wembanyama's foot and the contact was deemed incidental.

Drummond, who had already departed for the locker room, was seen on the broadcast putting his jersey back on as he came down the tunnel toward the court.

"The whole thing was really strange," 76ers coach Nick Nurse said of Andre Drummond being ejected. Drummond was allowed to return to the game when his second technical foul was rescinded upon video review. Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

"He just stepped on my foot, and I fell," Wembanyama said. "I didn't expect the foul to be called. I just fell."

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, who is in charge as Gregg Popovich recovers from a stroke, agreed.

"I don't think it was a foul on them, and I don't think it was a flop [on Wembanyama]," he said. "That's kind of how I saw it up to that point."

Those incidents led to Philadelphia fans relentlessly booing Wembanyama every time he touched the ball. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks. But Maxey scored 32 points and made two crucial plays in the final minute to help the 76ers complete the comeback.

Embiid, who was playing in just his eighth game, returned to the court after the win and was smiling as he celebrated with his teammates.

Embiid did not address the incident afterward. According to a team official, Embiid left the arena when reporters were in the locker room for postgame media availability.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

- Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff Writer

SIXERS' JOEL EMBIID SUFFERS SINUS FRACTURE AGAINST PACERS

NBC Sports

Joel Embiid suffered a sinus fracture in the Philadelphia 76ers' 121-107 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, the latest setback in a season full of them for the All-Star big man.

Embiid was battling Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin for a defensive rebound in the closing seconds of the first half when he caught an errant forearm and elbow to the face. He crumpled to the floor as play continued up the court and stayed down near the Philadelphia bench, holding his face.

The team ruled him out early in the second half because of "impact to the right side of the face" in the cheek and nose area.

Coach Nick Nurse didn't have an update on Embiid's status after the game, only to say he still was undergoing testing. The team later said he suffered the sinus fracture and would be reevaluated this weekend.

Embiid had 12 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in 17½ minutes in the loss for the 76ers, who next play at Charlotte on Monday.

He has played in only six of Philadelphia's 23 games. Embiid has been bothered by swelling in his left knee and served a three-game suspension for a physical incident with a reporter.

Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George -- billed as Philadelphia's big three after George's offseason arrival -- have played parts of only three games together. The Sixers are 7-16 on the season.

"You just have to move on and practice when we practice again and have a next-man-up mentality," said Maxey, who led Philadelphia with 22 points. "What sucks about this is that we were moving in the right direction. Guys were figuring out roles, what coach wants from them and playing the right way. We know how to play with Joel, and now we may have to revert our minds back to playing without him. That's OK. It's different. That's how life is."

Embiid has had number of facial injuries, including an orbital bone fracture after a collision with Pascal Siakam during the 2022 playoffs against the Toronto Raptors and one in 2018 after colliding with teammate Markelle Fultz. Last year, Embiid revealed during a first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks that he had Bell's palsy.

Embiid told ESPN after Sunday's win in Chicago that his left knee issues this season were "depressing" because of the swelling not being related to an injury. That was Philadelphia's last game before Friday.

"He's been in a really good place all week, and he practiced all week," Nurse said when asked about Embiid's state of mind. "We did a lot of stuff to get up to speed with him. But I can imagine that he can feel like the black cloud is over him a little bit. He just keeps running into something, really, unfortunately."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

- ESPN News Services

TYRESE MAXEY FOULED TWICE DURING CHAOTIC SEQUENCE, L2MR SAYS

Tyrese Maxey scored 35 points in the Sixers' Game 2 loss to the Knicks on Monday. The All-Star point guard was named the NBA's Most Improved Player on Tuesday.

 In its Last Two Minute Report for the New York Knicks' miraculous 104-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series Monday night, the NBA ruled that Tyrese Maxey was fouled multiple times during the game's frenetic defining sequence, and that 76ers coach Nick Nurse called for a timeout but the referees didn't see it.

The league said Jalen Brunson grabbed Maxey's jersey before the ball was inbounded after Brunson's 3-pointer cut Philadelphia's lead to two, and that Josh Hart then bumped Maxey as he caught the inbounds pass, sending him falling to the ground.

Maxey then committed a turnover trying to pass the ball after he fell to the ground, which led to Donte DiVincenzo missing a potential go-ahead 3-pointer and then making one that proved to be the winning shot with 13 seconds remaining.

"[Maxey] did his job," Joel Embiid said after the game, when asked whether he needed to say anything to his star guard following the turnover and a blocked potential go-ahead layup in the closing seconds. "That's on the league. That's on the NBA. That's on the frigging referees. I hate to put the game on them. But I am sure the two-minute report is going to come out and we are going to see what happened.

"But like I said, that's unacceptable. That's not on him. That's not on any of us. We fought for 47 minutes and whatever 20 seconds. For that to happen ... that's not OK."

The report also said that as Sixers point guard Kyle Lowry was inbounding the ball, Nurse was calling for a timeout but the officials didn't grant it -- as Nurse himself said to open his news conference after Monday's game.

Though the report did say Nurse tried to call a timeout a second time, that one shouldn't have been granted because Maxey didn't have control of the ball at that point.

"Well, the first thing is obviously they score," Nurse said. "We take a look at getting it in quick. We don't get it in quick. I call timeout. Referee looked right at me. Ignored me. Went into Tyrese, I called timeout again. Then the melee started.

"I guess I got to run out onto the floor or do something to make sure and get his attention, but I needed a timeout there to advance it. Would've been good.

"But, couldn't get it."

In addition to those calls, the Last Two Minute Report said two other calls were missed: an Embiid foul on DiVincenzo in the moments before Brunson's 3-pointer, and a defensive three seconds violation by Knicks forward OG Anunoby with just over a minute remaining.

None of that changes the ultimate result, however, as New York has taken a commanding 2-0 lead in its best-of-seven series with Philadelphia behind the remarkable comeback, which saw the Knicks become the first team since 1996 to come back from down five within the final 30 seconds of a playoff game and win in regulation, per SportRadar.

And while the NBA admitted the calls were missed, the 76ers will not be able to get the end of the game replayed. The Knicks tried a similar maneuver earlier this year when referee Jacyn Goble made an incorrect call on Brunson fouling Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday at the end of a game in Houston, only for New York's protest to get denied because it could not demonstrate that there was a misapplication of the playing rules, rather than human error.

The last successful protest was in 2008, when the Miami Heat won a protest of a loss to the Atlanta Hawks after Shaquille O'Neal fouled out of a game but had only committed five personal fouls, causing the final 51.9 seconds to be replayed at a later date.

Game 3 of the series will be Thursday night in Philadelphia, with Game 4 to follow Sunday afternoon.

- Tim Bontemps, ESPN

JOEL EMBIID SCORES 24 POINTS IN HIS RETURN FROM KNEE SURGERY | SIXERS TOP THUNDER 109-105

AP Photo 

 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid put Philadelphia ahead with four free throws in the final 40 seconds and finished with 24 points in his first game in nine weeks following knee surgery, leading the 76ers to a 109-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.

Embiid added seven assists and six rebounds in nearly 30 minutes — but most important, he brought the confidence that the Sixers can salvage their season and make a postseason run with last season's MVP in the lineup.

Embiid was congratulated by Hall of Famer Allen Iverson after the game.

AP Photo 

Chet Holmgren scored 22 points to lead the Thunder, who are in a tight race with Minnesota and Denver for the top spot in the Western Conference.

The Sixers trailed by 11 points with 7:27 left before they went on a torrid run. Kelly Oubre Jr. hit a 3 that got the comeback rolling, and Embiid capped it off with a series of free throws. Embiid hit two for a 106-105 lead and added two more that made it 108-105. He made all 12 foul shots on the night.

Embiid sat exhausted on the scorer's table as the final seconds ticked off before he sauntered over to Iverson.

Oubre scored 25 points and Tobias Harris had 18.

Embiid was injured on Jan. 30 at Golden State. He had meniscus surgery on his left knee a week later, and the Sixers crashed in the East standings without him. They are currently eighth, 1 1/2 games behind Miami.

With a healthy Embiid, the 76ers at least have a better chance to win a series or two in the playoffs.

“He changes them significantly,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They play a lot different stylistically when he’s in to where they have been lately in the last 30 games he’s been out or so. When he plays, it certainly changes their approach.”

AP Photo 

The Thunder couldn't hold on in the fourth with All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for the third time in four games with a quad injury. Jalen Williams (ankle) also sat out for the Thunder. All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (hip) was inactive for the 76ers.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse was impressed by the state of the Thunder, in large part because of Gilgeous-Alexander’s play.

“I think they’ve got a lot of stuff,” Nurse said. “They’ve got an incredible superstar who’s as good as anybody in the league. They’ve got some other emerging superstars that are very good players. They play a system that they’re all in tune with.”

UP NEXT

Thunder: At Boston on Wednesday.

76ers: At Miami on Thursday.

- DAN GELSTON

SIXERS' EMBIID UPS 30-10 STREAK TO 13 GAMES, DOWNPLAYS ANKLE INJURY

Joel Embiid is the first player to score 30-plus points in 20 of his first 25 games of a season since Michael Jordan in 1986-87. A look at the most 30-point games through the first 25 games of a season in NBA history:

PHILADELPHIA -- Joel Embiid played through an ankle injury to push his 30-10 streak to 13 games, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds in the Philadelphia 76ers' 121-111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Embiid scored all 31 points after landing awkwardly trying to block a shot with 5:25 left in the first quarter.

The 30-10 streak is the longest in the NBA since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it for 16 straight games in 1971-72. Just two other players in league history have recorded 30 points and 10 rebounds in at least 13 straight -- Elgin Baylor (15 straight in 1961-62) and Wilt Chamberlain (six different times).

Embiid also scored 30 points or more in 14 straight games, the most in the NBA since James Harden had a 32-game run in 2018-19.

NICK NURSE APPOINTED HEAD COACH OF THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

(CNN) — Nick Nurse, who as head coach led the Toronto Raptors to their lone NBA title in 2019, has been appointed the new head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, a league source has told CNN Sport.

Head coach of the Raptors from 2018 to 2023, the 55-year-old Nurse is regarded as one of the most talented minds in the NBA and was highly sought after following his exit from the Toronto team.

Former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers was relieved of his duties following a disappointing second-round exit against the Boston Celtics.

RAPTORS | NICK NURSE MADE EFFORT TO ARGUE LESS WITH OFFICIALS VS. WIZARDS