As far as NBA altercations go, this certainly wasn’t the most intense. But Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid drew a technical foul for it, either way.
Embiid and Detroit Pistons forward Tolu Smith engaged in a brief dustup late in the first half of a Wednesday, Nov. 4 game between the two teams.
The play happened with 1:25 left to go in the second quarter, when the 76ers had the ball. Sixers forward Jaylen Brown was driving to the basket when Smith was jostling with Embiid for positioning below the basket. Smith shoved Embiid, who took exception to the move after the play was blown dead.
Embiid then gave Smith a little shove with his right elbow. The contact was minor, but it led to a quick back and forth between the two. It escalated
with light shoving, and players eventually had to step in to separate Embiid and Smith, who were shouting and trying to square off.
76ers-Pistons getting heated 👀
— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2026
Joel Embiid was given a technical foul for this play. pic.twitter.com/aH0FimVLOu
Eventually, officials reviewed the sequence and levied a technical foul against Embiid for being the one to initiate the action with the elbow.
The Pistons crowd at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit immediately booed Embiid. Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham converted the technical free throw. Embiid was seen encouraging the boos.
The 76ers took a 56-42 lead into halftime.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joel Embiid hit with technical foul for altercation in 76ers-Pistons
