Fact Check: Russell Westbrook saying he was fouled by Joel Embiid at the end of the Sixers, Lakers game last night
Russell Westbrook had the ball for the Los Angeles Lakers down one-point with less than 10 seconds left on the clock in last night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Westbrook went for the layup to give the Lakers the lead, but was blocked by Joel Embiid, who was aided by Georges Niang, to help secure a 113-112 win for Philadelphia.
Read the full game recap here >>
Joel Embiid and Georges Niang – Game Winning Block
After the game, Westbrook spoke with the media, stating he got fouled by Embiid, and couldn’t get his hand up to shoot because Embiid was holding it down. Shown below, it looks like Westbrook was fishing for a foul call here and once he felt contact and basically just tossed the ball up at the rim, which ultimately was a clunker, giving the Sixers a 113-112 victory in Los Angeles.
Russell Westbrook Fact Check: True
Um…okay? Unfortunately for Westbrook, that wasn’t called and the 76ers walked away with the win. He should probably be more concerned about having the ball in his hands, nearly turning it over, and then attempting to drive on Embiid before Niang made the switch over to provide defensive help.
At no point, did LeBron James touch the basketball and Lakers’ head coach Darvin Ham didn’t even think to call a time out. That’s the real issue here, right? I totally understand the refs decided to lay off the whistle at the end of the game and honestly, that’s how it should be. I also understand that Embiid and Harden, known to NBA Twitter as “Foul Merchants” typically get calls like this but in a bang-bang situation, the right decision was made.
The result was the Philadelphia 76ers improving to 2-0 on their current five-game west coast trip. They have now won 15 out of their last 19 games, sitting at 27-16 in the Eastern Conference Standings.
The Sixers leapfrogged the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, now in fourth place, 4.5 games out of first place. No team has won more games than the Sixers over the last 20 games other than the Celtics, who currently sit atop the East with a 32-12 record.
They’ll continue their road trip tomorrow night in Los Angeles again, this time against the Clippers.
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