Dudley rushed at Embiid with 7 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter and Brooklyn leading 67-61 after the Sixers center fouled Jarrett Allen near the basket, bringing the 6-foot-11 Allen to the floor. In the ensuing fracas, Dudley and Ben Simmons spilled into the courtside seats along the baseline at Barclays Center.
After play was stopped for several minutes to sort out the penalties, Embiid was assessed a flagrant foul 1, and both Dudley and Butler — who swung his left forearm at Dudley — were called for technical fouls and ejected from the game.
Dudley, who’d already made his mark on the first-round NBA playoff series with his play in Game 1 at the stretch 5 and what he had to say going into Game 3, when he called Simmons an “average” player in the half court, was mocked by Embiid after Game 4.
“First of all, he’s a nobody,” Embiid told TNT of Dudley. “And when opponents try to do stuff like that, that’s just to get us out of the game. Especially, I’m too valuable for my team. That’s why I didn’t react. I did not do anything and I did not think that was a flagrant foul because I played the ball, too. But in that type of situation I just got to stay composed and be mature.”
