PHILADELPHIA — Kelly Oubre Jr. initially stated he didn’t want to get into any “back-and-forth nonsense” with the Knicks, but he proceeded to do so ahead of Sunday’s Game 4.
Oubre said Saturday he disagrees with charges by the Knicks that Joel Embiid’s flagrant foul on Mitchell Robinson the first quarter of Game 3 — grabbing at Robinson’s lower leg from the ground on a dunk attempt — was a “dirty” play.
He also essentially told them not to “cry” about it.
“I’ve seen that happen before, and I was on the other end of it, so at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s dirty, man. Joel has to protect himself,” Oubre said, before also saying this about the Knicks’ complaints: “I’m not gonna comment on what they’re commenting on. … They’re going to hit, then we hit back, and then they cry and vice versa or whatever the case may be.
“Let’s just hoop, let’s go out there and play hard. Nobody [is going to] fight. This ain’t the WWE. So at the end of the day, stand on the stuff that y’all say, and we’ll see tomorrow how they react.”
The Sixers had been the ones complaining after Game 2 in New York, with the league confirming afterward that the referees missed multiple fouls committed against Tyrese Maxey and attempted timeouts by Nick Nurse ahead of Donte DiVincenzo’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.0 seconds remaining.
After Thursday’s game, DiVincenzo labeled Embiid’s foul on Robinson as “dirty,” while Isaiah Hartenstein said it was “not a basketball play.”
Tom Thibodeau also called out the referees after the Sixers held a 33-19 advantage in free-throw attempts, including 19-for-21 from the line by Embiid in a 50-point effort.
“Listen, I think it’s a physical series, right?” Nurse said Saturday. “It’s historically a big series, from the fanbases to the players to the cities, to everything. I think there’s been all kinds of physical plays both ways. I think it’ll continue to be that way. I think it’s playoff basketball, I think that’s what it is.”
The 6-foot-7 Oubre was one of the keys to the Sixers’ defensive effort against Jalen Brunson in the first two games, before the All-Star guard had a 39-point breakout in Game 3.
Oubre added that he expects the Knicks to attempt to “impose their will” in Game 4 after the Sixers stepped up their physicality in their first win of the series.
“Absolutely. They’ve been physical every game,” Oubre said. “We were physical, as well, last game, too. So now we’re too physical. … They got the better of us in New York. It’s only right that we come home and we do the same thing they did to us and just compete.
“I just think that all the back-and-forth nonsense is just people trying to grab storylines. But at the end of the day, we’re two teams who play physical and play hard, and we grit it out. I expect nothing less at 1 p.m. [Sunday].”