The Philadelphia 76ers face an 0-2 series hole in their first round matchup against the New York Knicks. There are certainly some positives for the team to take away from those games, namely that both were extremely close and the Sixers had a chance to win down the stretch despite the fact that they were on the road. And now, the series is heading the Philadelphia, where they’ve been incredibly difficult to beat this year.
But despite that, it appears that Sixers executive Daryl Morey is dipping back into his old bag of tricks. While it is unclear if he is spearheading this effort, the front office led by Morey — who has never been shy about trying to put the officials in the spotlight when things go against his team — is filing a grievance over the officiating through the first two games of the series.
The 76ers plan to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating across the first two games of this series, a team spokesperson told ESPN.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 23, 2024
The Sixers intend to file a complaint with the NBA regarding the officiating in Games 1 and 2, per a Sixers spokesperson. Story to come @PHLY_Sports soon
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) April 23, 2024
While this isn’t everything, the series has been called fairly evenly in terms of fouls (Philly’s been called for 42, New York’s been called for 35) and free throw attempts (the Knicks have a 51-44 edge). There was, however, a high-profile moment at the end of Game 2 where Tyrese Maxey did not draw a foul despite plenty of contact, which led to a turnover and the go-ahead basket by Donte DiVincenzo. After the game, Joel Embiid called it “f*cking unacceptable” that the officials did not call a foul or grant Nick Nurse a timeout.