Kelly Oubre Jr. fuels escalating Knicks feud with ‘cry’ dig: ‘Ain’t the WWE’

PHILADELPHIA — Kelly Oubre Jr. initially stated he didn’t want to get into any “back-and-forth nonsense” with the Knicks, but he proceeded to do so ahead of Sunday’s Game 4.

Oubre said Saturday he disagrees with charges by the Knicks that Joel Embiid’s flagrant foul on Mitchell Robinson the first quarter of Game 3 — grabbing at Robinson’s lower leg from the ground on a dunk attempt — was a “dirty” play.

He also essentially told them not to “cry” about it.

“I’ve seen that happen before, and I was on the other end of it, so at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s dirty, man. Joel has to protect himself,” Oubre said, before also saying this about the Knicks’ complaints: “I’m not gonna comment on what they’re commenting on. … They’re going to hit, then we hit back, and then they cry and vice versa or whatever the case may be.

“Let’s just hoop, let’s go out there and play hard. Nobody [is going to] fight. This ain’t the WWE. So at the end of the day, stand on the stuff that y’all say, and we’ll see tomorrow how they react.”

The Sixers had been the ones complaining after Game 2 in New York, with the league confirming afterward that the referees missed multiple fouls committed against Tyrese Maxey and attempted timeouts by Nick Nurse ahead of Donte DiVincenzo’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.0 seconds remaining.