Celtics Marcus Smart Calls Out 76ers Joel Embiid

The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers battled it out on Wednesday night in what could be a preview to the Eastern Conference Finals this season. And while the 76ers went on to a 117-109 win, thanks to center Joel Embiid's monster night collecting 42 points, including 17-21 from the free throw line, not everyone in the building was a fan.

That's actually a two way street as Marcus Smart of the Celtics and Embiid went back and forth after the game. Both Smart and Embiid were not impressed with each other's acting skills and after the game had some choice words on the matter:

Marcus Smart just told me that I flail a lot? Come on. I'm sure he knows himself, and he knows his game, too, he does a lot of that. And I don't think I do. I mean, if you watch basketball and if you're a student of the game and if you actually pay attention during the game, we all see. Every single foul, I get fouled. ... The game is physical. Other teams tend to try to be extra physical against me. And I guess I'm just smarter than everybody else. ... I just take advantage of how they're guarding me.

You can call that, I don't know, basketball IQ, like if you're going to put your hand up there, I'm gonna take advantage of it and I'm gonna get to the free-throw line because I know that I'm a great free-throw shooter, and that's a better chance for me to help the team win- Embiid to ESPN

Meanwhile the Celtics shooting guard didn't hold back and had this to about the big man with some big flops:

It is tough. Especially when we've got our hands up a lot of the times, and he flails and gets the call, and then down on the other end, we've got our guys attacking the rim, getting a lot of contact and we're just not getting the whistle. It's tough to play like that. It's tough.

If the roles were reversed, I'd do it every time. I mean, I'd be on too if every time I threw my arms up or every time I got touched I'm going to the free-throw line. I mean, it's kind of hard not to get into a rhythm that way when you shoot 21 free throws alone and they allow you to hack on the other end.

Friday night should be interesting as the two teams line up again. Here's all the action you missed from Wednesday night: