Nick Nurse rips officiating after Philadelphia 76ers' Game 2 loss to New York Knicks
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse ripped the officiating in the team's heartbreaking 104-101 loss to the New York Knicks Monday night at Madison Square Garden, which puts them in a 2-0 hole in the series.
The Knicks got two 3-pointers from Villanova products Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo in the final 30 seconds that helped New York regain the lead.
After Brunson's 3-pointer made it a one-possession game, Nurse tried to call a timeout before the Sixers inbounded the ball but said the referee ignored him.
"They score and we take a look at getting it in quick," Nurse said. "We don't get it in quick. I call timeout. The referee looked right at me and ignored me."
With Nurse unable to call a timeout, the ball went into Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey, who was questionable with an illness heading into the game, wasn't able to cleanly corral a pass from guard Kyle Lowry but eventually recovered it near the corner 3-point line after plenty of contact and a potential foul from New York guard Jalen Brunson.
A Sixers team spokesperson confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia the team plans to file a grievance because of the officiating for the first two games of the series.
Nurse said he tried to call a second timeout while Maxey had the ball, but the refs didn't honor it. The Knicks were able to grab an offensive rebound after a miss and DiVincenzo drilled a 3-pointer, which gave the Knicks a 102-101 lead.
"It went into Tyrese, I called timeout again and then the melee started," Nurse said. "I mean, I guess I got to run out on the floor or do something to get his attention. Needed a timeout out there to advance it, would've been good, but couldn't get it."
Social media posts from after the game show Nurse on the TV broadcast attempting to call a timeout during the inbounds pass and while Maxey is on the floor.
Sixers center Joel Embiid told reporters following the game the play where Maxey was trying to receive the inbounds pass was "[expletive] unacceptable" and that he was fouled multiple times.
"That's [expletive] unacceptable to lose a game like that in the playoffs," Embiid told reporters.
The Sixers got big contributions from Embiid and Maxey, who both recorded double-doubles. Embiid had 34 points and 11 rebounds and Maxey had 35 points and dished 10 assists, but the team crumbled late, coughed up the lead, and now trail New York 2-0.
Embiid said the Sixers are going to come back and win the series -- Game 3 will be in South Philly on Thursday night -- but the odds aren't in their favor. Only 7.3% of teams have recovered from a 2-0 deficit in the playoffs, according to LandOfBasketball.com.
"We should be 2-0, so we good," Embiid told reporters. "We going to win this series, we going to win this. We know what we're going to fix, we did a better job today, so we going to fix it. We're the better team and we're going to keep fighting."