Tony Brothers, referee for the Brooklyn Nets vs Philadelphia 76ers playoff Game 3, was trolled on social media after James Harden was ejected at the Barclays Center. The visitors won 102-97 and took a 3-0 lead in the series.
Harden was ejected in the third quarter on Thursday night for a flagrant foul 2 against Brooklyn Nets forward Royce O’Neale. The former was whistled for hitting his opponent in the midsection.
“[The contact] was to the groin, and as such [the referees] made the decision that it was both excessive and unnecessary, which is the definition of a flagrant foul penalty two,” NBA’s senior vice president of referee development Monty McCutchen said in an in-game interview on TNT.
Also read: Did Jacque Vaughn ask Nets players to ‘hit’ Embiid during playoff game vs 76ers?
Sixers star Joel Embiid on the other hand escaped with a flagrant foul 1 after kicking Nets center Nic Claxton in the groin.
Several social media users trolled referee Tony Brothers after Harden’s ejection.
“Harden being ejected for that is disgraceful. Tony Brothers and your crew just made yourself bigger than the game!!! #PHIvsBKN,” a Twitter user said.
“they called that a foul? this real life, Tony Brothers, retire,” another one added.
“Well, congrats on Tony Brothers crew for taking this game over,” a third one tweeted.
Harden was having a brilliant game. The Nets star finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 29 minutes. He had gone for a combined 2-for-13 on 2-point shots through the first two games.
Joel Embiid, early in the first quarter, kicked Claxton while lying on the ground. The latter received a technical foul.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Josh Robbins ahead of the 76ers vs Nets game released the results of a survey of 108 NBA players. Tony Brothers was voted as “best ref.” He received 28.8 percent of the 66 votes that were submitted.
