With 13.6 seconds left to play in the third quarter of Game 3 between the 76ers and Nets, James Harden was given a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected from the game.
The officials ejected the former league MVP for hitting Royce O’Neale who was guarding Harden at the three-point line. The Philadelphia’s superstar thought that the call was wrong.
“I didn’t hit him in a private area,” Harden said. “Somebody’s draped you like that defensively, it’s just a natural basketball reaction. And I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that.
“But for a flagrant 2 is unacceptable. This is a playoff game. You’ve seen around the league things that are much more worse that what that play was. Honestly, I don’t even think it was a foul on me. That’s unacceptable. That can’t happen.”
Even without Harden, the Sixers took care of business as they won the game 102-97 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
