Harden's ejection, Embiid's flagrant - What's behind the sudden rise of these fouls in the NBA playoffs?

What's behind the sudden surge in flagrant 2 fouls during the first week of the NBA playoffs?

Officiating decisions have taken center stage this week, starting with Draymond Green's ejection on Monday for a flagrant 2 foul after stomping on Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis resulting in a one-game suspension for Green. The decision left the Golden State Warriors short-handed for Thursday's Game 3.

Then on Thursday, James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers became the second star sent to the showers early, when he was called for a flagrant 2 for hitting Brooklyn Nets wing Royce O'Neale in the groin with his off hand while dribbling. Earlier, teammate Joel Embiid was called only for a flagrant 1 — which does not result in ejection — when he kicked Nets center Nic Claxton from the ground.

Typically, flagrant 2 fouls are rare. Just 14 of them were called during the entire 2022-23 NBA regular season, or an average of one every 88 games. To have two of them during the first 17 games of the playoffs inevitably stands out by contrast.

Although it's common for play to get more physical in the postseason, we don't usually see this many flagrant 2 fouls called in the playoffs. There were three flagrant 2s all of last year's postseason — one of them committed by Green against the Memphis Grizzlies. And we've already matched the total of two flagrant 2s from both the 2020 and 2021 playoffs while surpassing the one called in 2019.

The NBA's rulebook defines flagrant 1 fouls as contact to an opponent that is «unnecessary,» whereas the more punitive flagrant 2 call requires the contact to be both «unnecessary and excessive.»

Several criteria are offered to distinguish between those categories, or fouls that don't rise to the level