PHILADELPHIA — For the second straight game, foul trouble limited Karl-Anthony Towns’ production.
It didn’t hurt the Knicks in their 108-94 Eastern Conference semifinal victory Friday night, but it remains a worrisome trend.
Towns only logged 26 minutes because of foul trouble after playing just 27 minutes in Game 2.
Asked if he was frustrated by the officiating, Towns responded, “What do you think?”
There was one call that could’ve gone either way. With 8:20 remaining in the first half, Joel Embiid was called for a loose ball foul against Towns. The 76ers challenged the call, and it was reversed. Towns was assessed his third and sat the rest of the half.
“I’m not surprised at anything anymore,” he said.
Towns ended the evening with eight points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Josh Hart is going to play through the pain.
He suffered a sprained left thumb in Game 2, but finished the contest and started Game 3 on Friday night.
“It’s something I’ll revisit in the offseason,” he said before notching 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes. “There’s people that played through this and people who played through it and got a championship. Something that’s doable.”
An X-ray revealed it wasn’t broken, and Hart doesn’t see the point of an MRI exam. Hart had the thumb taped up for the game.
He is having a strong postseason, averaging 9.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals. Hart went 0-for-4 from 3-point range Friday, but when asked about the thumb, said it was a non-issue.
“Thumb’s cool,” he said.
Embiid returned for Game 3 after being held out of Wednesday’s Game 2 with a sprained ankle and hip soreness. Embiid missed the first three games of the playoffs after undergoing emergency appendectomy late in the regular season.
Embiid scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting, along with six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. ks.
Miles McBride started in place of the injured OG Anunoby and scored three points in 21 minutes.
