Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons has been fined $20,000 and assessed a flagrant foul for an elbow to the groin of Toronto guard Kyle Lowry during the Sixers' 116-95 Game 3 win on Thursday night. No call was made on the play during the game, but the league took action on Friday, issuing the following statement:
Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons has been fined $20,000 and assessed a Flagrant Foul 1 upon league office review for making contact to the groin of Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter of the 76ers' 116-95 win over the Raptors on May 2 at Wells Fargo Center.
In the second quarter of Thursday's Game 3, Ben Simmons delivered an obvious cheap shot to Kyle Lowry's groin area and managed to get away with it. As you'll see below, Lowry had boxed Simmons out deep under the basket, and once the shot was missed and play was moving to the other end, Simmons made his move.
Lowry was incensed and made his case through the next possession, after Norman Powell had connected on a 3-pointer on the other end for the Raptors, but no call was made. ESPN brought its officiating expert, Steve Javie, on the broadcast, and he said too much time had passed for the officials to go back and assess a flagrant foul, which would have given Toronto two foul shots and possession.
The league made the right call by going back and assessing a flagrant after the fact, which goes on Simmons' total for the playoffs, but it doesn't do much good for Toronto.
