Joel Embiid on golf clap towards refs after Game 4: ‘I admire the job that they did today’

For Sixers fans who stuck it out until the end of the Game 4 loss vs. the Raptors on Saturday, they got a treat after the final buzzer when the camera panned to a clapping Joel Embiid.

Embiid, who only went to the free throw line nine times in the defeat, seemed to be directing his golf claps at the referees quite sarcastically.

After the game, though, he defended his postgame actions.

“Like I was doing at the end of the game, they did a great job,” Embiid said to reporters in Toronto. “I admire the job that they did today. To me, it felt like they had one job coming in here tonight, and they got it done. So, congrats to them.”

In Saturday’s matchup, the Raptors took 35 free throws, compared to 25 for the Sixers. That was a far cry from the first three games of the series, with Philly taking 11 more FT in Game 1, 18 in Game 2 and just two more in Game 3.

The shoe was on the other foot today, with the Sixers being the team to express its frustration at the foul calls (or lack thereof). Through the first three games of the series, it was Raptors coach Nick Nurse who incessantly complained about the officiating.

Doc Rivers took the high road in the postgame press conference, crediting Toronto for their performance but not without taking a subtle jab at his counterpart:

It’ll be interesting to see how Game 5 is called back in Philly, and whether or not the officiating decides to call every ticky-tack foul (both ways).

For now? Just kick back, get ready for Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center, and hope the Sixers never get Scott Foster again.