Joel Embiid, James Harden Flagrant Fouls Explained by Referee After 76ers-Nets Game 3

The point of contact was the key difference in the flagrant fouls called against Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and James Harden during their team's 102-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

Embiid was issued a flagrant-1 for kicking Nic Claxton, while Harden was given a flagrant-2 and ejected for elbowing Royce O'Neale.

Official Tony Brothers explained the difference as part of the pool report with Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press and highlighted the "point of contact directly to the groin" on the Harden call:

The Embiid call may have made the difference in the game considering it happened in the early stages of the first quarter. Had the 76ers lost their MVP candidate that early, they may not have been able to win on the road and seize a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Claxton stepped over the big man when he was on the ground, which prompted Embiid to kick him. He missed a direct shot to the groin area, which was apparently the reason he was allowed to remain in the game.

Officials also gave Claxton a technical foul, which ended up being important since he received another later in the game and ended up being ejected himself.

Harden's incident happened near the end of the third quarter when he had the ball. He hit O'Neale directly in the groin area and was not permitted to participate in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately for the 76ers, Tyrese Maxey picked up the slack.

Maxey finished with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 shooting from deep. He took over in crunch time and scored 10 straight points for the visitors in the final four minutes.

Embiid's presence was also key seeing how he swatted Spencer Dinwiddie's potential game-tying shot at the rim in the last 10 seconds.

Now the 76ers will look to complete the sweep and avoid any direct groin shots in Saturday's Game 4.