The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday’s game against the rival Boston Celtics hoping to avoid a season sweep. It led to Sixers head coach Brett Brown placing a ton of significance on a regular season game.
With Boston having opened up a double-digit lead early in the third quarter, things got heated big time.
Watch as Celtics guard Marcus Smart shoves Sixers big man Joel Embiid to the ground.
As you can tell, this was in retaliation for Embiid throwing elbows in Smart’s direction.
Embiid took a hard fall on the court and immediately went after Smart. The good news here is that things didn’t escalate any further.
Smart was eventually ejected from the game after drawing a flagrant 2 foul. As he was exiting the court at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly, Smart was seen egging on the crowd.
The backdrop here is real. Boston and Philadelphia could end up playing one another in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. If so, the bad blood from this game won’t soon be forgotten.