Joel Embiid: Jacque Vaughn, Nets Took ‘Nick Nurse Route of Begging for Free Throws’

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Joel Embiid found a way to criticize Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn and Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse in one comment Monday.

“They kind of took the Nick Nurse route of begging for free throws” the Philadelphia 76ers told reporters when discussing the Nets and their coach after helping lead his team to a 96-84 win in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Embiid’s comments were in reference to Vaughn’s remarks after Game 1 when the coach said, “Hopefully they’ll be calling a travel and three seconds on the big fella next game,” per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.

Officiating Embiid was a major storyline in last year’s first-round series between the Raptors and 76ers as well.

Philadelphia won that series in six games, and the big man was seen talking to Nurse near the end of Game 2.

“He’s a great coach,” Embiid told reporters last year. “Obviously, he’s been able to accomplish [a lot] and always been a big fan.

“But, I told him, respectfully, I told him to stop b—-ing about calls.”

As for this year’s series, the 76ers appear to be in full control after winning Game 1 by 20 points and Game 2 by 12 points. Both teams have shot exactly 32 free throws through the first two contests, so there hasn’t been an obvious officiating bias one way or the other despite such a focus on the whistles.

At this point, the Nets just don’t have the firepower to counter the combination of Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris. Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson have played well for spurts, but the team as a whole isn’t bringing the high-level ceiling to the table that it was when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were on the roster.

Perhaps things will change when the series shifts to Brooklyn for Game 3, but Philadelphia has been the better team in the early going.