Jaylen Brown believes Joel Embiid received a favorable whistle in the Philadelphia 76ers' Game 7 win Saturday over the Boston Celtics.
"We didn't really have an answer for him," Brown said postgame. "We tried a bunch of different things. He's a big body. He also was flopping around, he got some extra calls, and stuff like that, and they rewarded him for that.
"But that's the league we're in. That's all I gotta say."
The 76ers center, who averaged 8.8 free-throw attempts during the regular season, made a game-high 11 trips to the line Saturday, converting nine of them. Philadelphia as a whole was 20-of-23 at the line, while Boston went 13-of-16.
Brown and Embiid clashed several times during the series-decider, including a heated exchange caught by cameras after Embiid got the better of Brown with a short floater.
Joel Embiid chirping Jaylen Brown after the bucket. 👀
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) May 3, 2026
📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/RgyJirAFgA
The two collided again minutes later when Embiid knocked Brown off balance in midair after officials had whistled Paul George for a blocking foul. Brown momentarily grabbed his left knee after falling to the court but remained in the game, while Embiid was assessed a technical foul after a video review.
Jaylen Brown falls after a block off the whistle by Joel Embiid, trying to prevent the And-1, and Brown gets up and shakes off the knee injury after some time on the floor (with replays).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 3, 2026
Embiid got a tech upon review. pic.twitter.com/NgtZlgn10X
Embiid finished with 34 points - his most this postseason - on 12-of-26 shooting, along with 12 rebounds and six assists. He debuted in Game 4 after recovering from an appendectomy. Embiid and 76ers teammate Tyrese Maxey became just the third duo in NBA history to record 30 points and 10 rebounds in a Game 7.
