During last night’s Game 6 matchup between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid inadvertently smacked Marc Gasol in the face while the two jostled for positioning after a free throw: Flagrant 1 on Joel Embiid for slapping Marc Gasol on the box out pic.twitter.com/40egU0AqUh — Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 10, 2019 If you ask me, that was very clearly an accident. However, even with the benefit of replay, the officials decided the incident was worthy of a flagrant one foul. For a refresher, even though its repeated during the broadcast just about every single time a play is under review, here’s what the NBA officially classifies as a flagrant one foul: unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent. Now, such a definition leaves a bit of discretion to the refs. There’s “unnecessary” contact on just about every single basketball play, if we’re nitpicking. So in regards to a flagrant, unnecessary seems to mean outside the realm of results that occur from typical basketball actions. And if my understanding is accurate, I’m not sure Embiid’s foul on Gasol is unnecessary whatsoever. It seems as though Embiid is simply raising his arms in preparation of fielding a rebound, and accidentally caught Gasol in the face. A standard foul? Sure. But a flagrant? The NBA today had a chance to change course and rescind Embiid’s flagrant. Surely they would, right? Nope. According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, the NBA will not be performing any such action: Joel Embiid's flagrant foul from last night's game will not be rescinded, league sources told ESPN. Embiid now has 3 flagrant foul points during the playoffs. He will earn an automatic 1-game suspension if he picks up a flagrant-1, & a 2-game suspension if he gets a flagrant 2. — Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 10, 2019 This creates a very precarious situation for Joel and the Sixers. They absolutely cannot afford to lose Joel Embiid for an entire game. With the threat of a suspension lingering, Embiid will have to keep his cool and play under control for the remainder of the Sixers’ playoff run. But even that feels like it may not be enough to keep the heat off Jo...<doc-sep>Joel Embiid's flagrant foul in game 6 against the Toronto Raptors, his 3rd in the playoffs, will not be rescinded. Embiid was called for the flagrant after hitting Marc Gasol in the face as they battled for position during a rebound. Players receive a 1-game suspension after reaching 4 flagrant-foul points. "I mean it's annoying, it's stupid. I feel like the one in Brooklyn should be rescinded and tonight, it's just basketball. I didn't mean to do it. I just happened to hit him in the face I guess and didn't mean to do it," said Embiid after the game.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>While the Sixers gear up for Game 7 Sunday in Toronto, they may have a pressing issue to deal with if they advance. The Flagrant 1 Joel Embiid was assessed in Thursday night’s Game 6 win will not be rescinded, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. It is the third Flagrant 1 Embiid has been issued during the playoffs. If he picks up another at any point in the playoffs, he’ll serve an automatic one-game suspension. For example, if he commits one in Game 7 against the Raptors and the Sixers win, he’d be forced to miss Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Milwaukee. The NBA has a points system when it comes to flagrant fouls in the playoffs. A Flagrant 1 is worth one point and a Flagrant 2 is worth two. If a player with three points, like Embiid, picks up a Flagrant 1, they’re suspended for one game. If they pick up a Flagrant 2, it’s two games. If you reach five points, any flagrant foul thereafter is an automatic two-game suspension. The fact that we’re even having this conversation and having to explain this is ridiculous. In watching the replay Thursday night, the act didn’t look “hostile.” Watching it again Friday afternoon, it doesn’t look any more “hostile.” It looks like Marc Gasol hooks Embiid and Embiid is trying to get his arm loose. In that process, Embiid accidentally hits Gasol in the face (see video above). Credit to Gasol for making it look like he took a left hook from Joe Frazier. The two flagrants Embiid picked up against Brooklyn were much tougher to argue — especially the elbow to Jarrett Allen — but this didn’t seem close. If he winds up picking up another, the officials better be damn sure they get it right. It would a shame for the NBA to have a couple dubious calls affect a playoff game and series in that way. Click here to download the MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Flyers, Sixers and Phillies games easily on your device. More on the Sixers<doc-sep>
Adrian Wojnarowski and Ryen Russillo examine the problems the 76ers must solve this offseason if they get knocked out by the Raptors. (1:50) PHILADELPHIA -- Sixers center Joel Embiid's flagrant foul from the final minutes of the Philadelphia's Game 6 win over the Toronto Raptors Thursday night will not be rescinded, league sources told ESPN. The play, which occurred late in the fourth quarter when Embiid's hand hit Raptors center Marc Gasol in the face when the two were jostling for a rebound of a free throw, earned Embiid his third flagrant foul point of these playoffs. "I mean it's annoying, it's stupid," Embiid said after Thursday's game. "I feel like the one in Brooklyn should be rescinded and tonight, it's just basketball. I didn't mean to do it. I just happened to hit him in the face I guess and didn't mean to do it. "It just happened. A lot of things like that happen. I got hit in the face in the first half by Pascal [Siakam] but kind of like the same situation that wasn't a flagrant. I saw the video of it, I mean it doesn't look that bad. ... It's tough. I guess I get one more and I'm gone for one game. So I got to look out for it, but that's definitely, this one and in the one in Brooklyn that I feel like I didn't deserve." Embiid picked up flagrant 1 fouls in both Game 2 and Game 4 of Philadelphia's first-round victory over the Brooklyn Nets -- both times for hitting Nets center Jarrett Allen. In Game 2, he elbowed Allen in the head while Embiid was executing a post move on offense. In Game 4, Embiid fouled Allen while Allen attempted a layup, which led to an on-court skirmish that resulted in the ejections of Sixers star Jimmy Butler and Nets forward Jared Dudley.