Pascal Siakam wasn't about to criticize 76ers star Joel Embiid for breaking out his trademark airplane celebration late in Philadelphia's blowout win over the host Toronto Raptors in the series-ending Game 6 on Thursday night.
"If that's how he decides to celebrate, who am I to tell him not to? It is what it is. We lost. That's it," Siakam said of Embiid, who scored a game-high 33 points.
After his dunk with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter put the Sixers up 119-90, Embiid ran back on defence with his arms stretched out for his airplane pose -- drawing loud boos from the Toronto crowd.
"I don't think it's anything new. It's what he does," Siakam said. "For us, we want to play better. We want to be able to beat them. I think we know he's going to do all the stuff. As long as that's him, I have no problem with it. If we win, it's a different story. He won and I think that's on him to celebrate however he wanted."
On the ensuing possession, Siakam drove to the hoop and scored while accidentally elbowing Embiid in the face.
While it was originally called a defensive foul, the call was overturned with the foul going on Siakam after a challenge.
"I feel awful I hit his face. I was trying to make a move," Siakam said. "Obviously, I apologized to him after that. It was definitely not my intention."
Raptors fans are familiar with the airplane move.
In their 2019 playoff series, Raptors global ambassador Drake mocked Embiid by doing the airplane celebration in his courtside seats.
This year, Embiid was in the headlines all series.
After a Game 1 win, he said Raptors coach Nick Nurse should stop complaining about foul calls.
Then in Game 4, Embiid mockingly applauded the refs for calls he didn't like and then criticized them after the 76ers' loss in his press conference. He was fined $15,000.
After a Game 5 Sixers loss, Embiid said he felt co-star James Harden should shoot more, but that it was up to coach Doc Rivers to give him those directions.
Meanwhile, it was revealed after Game 3 that Embiid was playing through a thumb injury.
After the Game 6 win, Embiid told NBA TV the series against the Raptors will help the 76ers prepare to play their next opponent -- the Miami Heat.
"I think Toronto actually prepared us extremely well for them because they've got basically the same skills ... This was good preparation for us."
