Suns Complain About Refs After Loss to Thunder
At times, Oklahoma City Thunder opponents have complained about referees. After another playoff loss, the Phoenix Suns joined that group. The Denver Nuggets complained about how the Thunder were refereed earlier this season. So did the New York Knicks. In previous instances, the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves have chimed in on it.
The Suns are now down 2-0 after falling again in OKC. This time, they weren't thoroughly blown out, losing by 13. However, a 2-0 deficit to the defending champions is a 2-0 deficit, and at least a few players are unhappy with the referees in the wake.
Devin Booker rips refs after Suns loss
Devin Booker was very unhappy with the referees after the Phoenix Suns lost 120-107 to fall behind two games to none. The Oklahoma City Thunder are commanding the series in many ways, but Booker believes the officiating hasn't been fair. He even called it out by name.
"In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight through and through," Booker commented. "It's bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as a WWE if they're not held responsible."
He continued, "It just feels disrespectful. I know I haven't won a championship in this league, but I have been in it for 11 years now. So to get to this point to be treated like that, for me to even be saying something out loud, it's bad."
Booker even mentioned that he saw Thunder guard Alex Caruso implore the referees to call a technical on the Suns guard. After Caruso got done chatting with the ref, Booker was T'd up. "This is my first time in 11 years, but it's needed," Booker added. "Whatever I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration is from."
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Dillon Brooks echoes complaint
Dillon Brooks was also unhappy with the referees on Wednesday. He was, however, not as pointed. He doesn't have a particular gripe with a ref. He's just not happy with how he feels he has to guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whom Brooks accused of having a very friendly whistle.
"(Gilgeous-Alexander is) a little frail, and that's what the refs are going to call," said Brooks, who had a team-high 30 points. "I got to be smarter about it, but this is the playoffs. It's a man's game." For what it's worth, SGA had nine free throws. His game average is about nine, although he did shoot 17 in Game 1. The Suns had 16 as a team in Game 1.
SGA responds
This is not the first time Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been called out for the whistle he receives. It certainly won't be the last. Dillon Brooks isn't the first defender to get frustrated about how many times he's called for a foul when guarding the presumptive MVP.
"I can't control what Dillon or anybody else on the other side is going to complain about," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "All I can do is try to go out there and win basketball games for my team. But Dillon's doing what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to bring energy to the game, rile up the game. And once again, he did a good job of bringing energy to the game tonight. It was super fun out there. I love playing against him."
Brooks also said he'd need to go back and review the game film to see if the calls were justifiable. He fouled out with 25 seconds left, so he will have six calls to review and determine whether or not he should feel slighted about it.
