NEW YORK–The Philadelphia 76ers were in the middle of a playoff battle with the Brooklyn Nets in Game 3 of their Round 1 series on Thursday night. The Nets had battled back from a 13-point deficit to take the lead and the Sixers were looking to recollect themselves.
Then, James Harden was hit with a very questionable flagrant-2 foul and he was ejected late in the third quarter. The Sixers trailed the Nets 82-76 after three quarters and they had to rally without Harden.
They were able to do so and knock off the Nets 102-97 and take a 3-0 stranglehold in this series, but Harden was very upset with the referees after the ejection.
“Unacceptable,” said Harden. “Unacceptable flagrant-2. That’s the first time I’ve been ejected. I’m not labeled as a dirty player. I didn’t hit him in the private area. If somebody is draped on you defensively, it’s just a natural basketball reaction.”
When the play happened, Nets forward Royce O’Neale was defending Harden on the play and he fell down.
“I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that for a flagrant-2 is unacceptable,” Harden continued. “This is a playoff game. We’ve seen things around the league that are much worse than that play was. Honestly, I didn’t even think that was a foul on me, but yeah. That can’t happen.”
Harden then went on to say he didn’t even believe it was an offensive foul on him. He just believed it was a regular basketball play.
“I didn’t even think it was a foul on me!” he said. “Natural reaction, you use your off arm to get him off a little bit and that was it. It wasn’t like no wind up, elbow, none of that. I didn’t hit him in the private area, none of that. That can’t happen. It can’t happen.”
Harden and the Sixers will look to finish up this series on Saturday in Game 4 from Brooklyn.
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Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire