76ers win after livid Embiid ejected in chaotic half

PHILADELPHIA — Disgust with the officiating left 76ers fans at Wells Fargo Center booing a T-shirt giveaway near the end of a chaotic opening half Monday night in which Joel Embiid was ejected after drawing two quick technical fouls for arguing a charge call against San Antonio‘s Victor Wembanyama.

Driving to the basket in transition as Wembanyama attempted to defend, Embiid plowed into the 20-year-old French phenom, knocking him to the floor. Embiid was whistled for a charging foul with 2:59 left in the first half.

Embiid stood up immediately and expressed displeasure with the call, leading to a technical foul from referee Jenna Schroeder as the center headed toward the Philadelphia bench.

Once near the bench area, a furious Embiid charged toward the officials and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, coach Nick Nurse and several assistants as Schroeder issued another technical foul, leading to Embiid’s second career ejection. Embiid was in close proximity to Schroeder during the, but it wasn’t clear from replays whether he made contact with the official.

Wearing a mask while playing in just his second game since suffering a sinus fracture, Embiid had nine points and three rebounds in 14:22, shooting 2-for-8. He entered the game averaging 22.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

It was the second ejection of the quarter by Schroeder, although the first was rescinded following a bizarre sequence in which reserve center Andre Drummond was tossed for an apparent foul on Wembanyama, his second foul on the Spurs star in a span of seconds.

Drummond was whistled for a technical foul with 8:13 remaining in the first half after pushing Wembanyama to the floor as the two battled under the basket. Seconds later, Drummond appeared to push Wembanyama down again.

Drummond was initially called for his second technical foul and ejected. After video review, however, the officials rescinded the ejection, allowing him to re-enter the game. Then, they initially assessed Wembanyama with a technical foul for flopping. Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey shot and made a free throw and the point went on the scoreboard, only for the officials to rescind the “unsportsmanlike flop” technical, remove the point and restart the game.

Drummond, who had already departed for the locker room, was seen on the broadcast putting his jersey back on as he came down the tunnel toward the court.

From that point on, the Philadelphia fans booed Wembanyama relentlessly every time he touched the ball. He finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight blocks, but it was Maxey who scored 32 points and made two crucial plays in the final minute as the 76ers rallied to beat the Spurs 111-106.

Embiid, who was playing in just his eighth game, came back out onto the court after the win to celebrate with his teammates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.