Stay out of the paint, Ben.
Sixers star Joel Embiid had a rare flare-up at teammate Ben Simmons in Tuesday’s win against the Clippers after an accidental elbow ignited Embiid.
During the third quarter of the 119-113 win, Embiid went up for what appeared to be an uncontested rebound after Clippers guard Avery Bradley’s shot. While he was clearing out the paint, Simmons came crashing into the paint and went up against Embiid for the ball and elbowed him in the face.
Embiid was left on the floor covering his face and the Sixers quickly called a timeout. As the team returned to the bench, the 76ers’ broadcast caught Embiid enraged at Simmons.
“What is he doing? Fighting for a f–king rebound!,” Embiid appeared to scream.
Following the game, Simmons said he was just doing what coach Brett Brown asked him to do. Embiid explained that he bugged out because Simmons’ elbow scraped the same side of his face that required surgery following a collision with Markelle Fultz late last season.
“I just went for the ball and I felt an elbow on my face,” Embiid said. “I kind of freaked out also because that’s the same side of the face I had the surgery on. It was a basketball play, nothing to talk about.”
Embiid finished Tuesday’s tilt with 28 points and 19 boards while Simmons nearly had a triple double with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.