Phoenix Suns frustration No. 2: The damn officiating
All season long, Suns fans have decried the trouble Devin Booker has had getting calls befitting an All-Star. Now, the calls he’s getting are coming with the games’ outcomes no longer in doubt. Gee, thanks, for that foul call on a 3-point attempt with a couple of minutes remaining in a rout.
Watching other playoff series has offered additional illumination, with similarly talented, All-Star level players gaining the favor of officials while Booker continues to come up short.
Monty Williams had a few things to say after Game 2 as well.
Monty said he's expressed to the league over the last couple of days that the physicality needs to be the same on both sides. Says that's part of playoff basketball, and it's to be expected for a young team that hasn't proven anything, but it needs to be more even
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) May 28, 2021
And followers of this Lakers series are acutely aware of what “Scott Foster, 0-11” means.
During his postgame media availability Paul deftly avoided any mention of Foster, but made his point. Paul has lost 11 straight playoff games — playing for four teams — in which Foster has officiated.
The quotes:
“If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row. Eleven games in a row.”
“It is what it is (the shoulder injury), keep trying to get ready. Like I said, prepare always, always. And we’ll see what happens. Eleven in a row.”
“Look at our defensive coverages, see how we can limit the layups and the dunks. … And just keep fighting. Keep fighting. Eleven in a row is tough.”
Anthony Davis wasn’t amused by Booker’s late-game takedown — which the officials, of course, applied the ejection option for Booker.
“Can’t happen, can’t do that,” Davis told TNT after the game. “They’ve been chirping, it’s playoff basketball, but you don’t push a guy in the air like that two hands. It’s a dirty play. Dennis could have really got hurt right there. We keep it in between the lines, and I know Monty (Williams), he’s not that type of coach.
“He’s probably going to say something to him. (He was) my coach for three years. That just can’t happen. Hard fouls, things like that, it’s playoff basketball, we accept those. But just to blatantly push a guy with two hands out the air, it’s a scary play. Good thing he’s OK, but plays like that is unacceptable.”
Solution: Make sure Foster isn’t assigned to Game 4?