Stephen A Smith Says Tyrese Maxey Should Have Been Granted a Foul at the End of Game Two

Every Philadelphia 76ers and their fans have every right to be upset with how the officiating took place to end game two of their playoff series against the New York Knicks. Sixty-nine points Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid combined for, they gave it their all last night. In a tied game with less than twenty seconds to go, there was an inbound that the Knicks ended up with, even though it seemed as if Maxey was fouled twice.

This angle of the last 30 seconds of Knicks/Sixers.

Pure Electricity.
pic.twitter.com/FEj0uT5IlR

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 23, 2024

Inevitably, Maxey could not maintain possession of the ball, and a timeout was never granted to the Sixers. Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo hit a three to give the Knicks a three-point lead with seconds left. The Sixers’ Head Coach, Nick Nurse, was disgusted with the officiating and was adamant that he called for a timeout, and it was not granted.

“I called timeout. The referee looked right at me and ignored me. Tyrese Maxey got the ball. I called timeout again, he ignored me again.”

This angle of the last 30 seconds of Knicks/Sixers.

Pure Electricity.
pic.twitter.com/FEj0uT5IlR

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 23, 2024

Stephen A Smith, an avid New York Knicks fan, admitted that a foul should have been called when the ball was inbounded to Maxey. 

Stephen A. Smith provides his perspective on the end of the Knicks-Sixers game from his courtside seat at Madison Square Garden.

"I saw Tyrese Maxey get mugged if I'm being totally honest. He got fouled at least two or three teams. There's no reason on Earth why that call… pic.twitter.com/lVlG89INMJ

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 23, 2024

Joel Embiid was disappointed but he believes that his team is the better team and he says that they will win this series. 

“We should be 2-0, but we good we are going to win this series. We know what we have to fix and we did a better job today and we are going to fix it. But we are the better team and we will keep fighting.

The Sixers are down 2-0. Embiid is banged up, and the lack of help that the supporting cast is giving their duo will not be enough to beat this Knicks team in four out of six games. It will be on them to get out of this rut and help this team turn around their fortune at home on Thursday.