Why Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks were 100% right to rip refs' ridiculous 'WWE-like' display in Thunder Game 2 appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Dillon Brooks plays a specific brand of basketball, and it has rubbed off on his teammates. The Phoenix Suns wing is one of the most physical players in the league. He also hustles constantly and he is a lockdown defender. His old-school style of play and win-at-all-costs mentality has resulted in the Suns exceeding a lot of expectations in a season after trading Kevin Durant . In the first round of the playoffs, Phoenix is taking on the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder , and Brooks and his teammates have been displeased with how their first two losses in the series have been officiated.
Brooks and Devin Booker made comments after their second loss of the series, showcasing their frustrations, and the team really can't be blamed for how they feel.
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Brooks was the primary defender on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander throughout most of Game 2. The soon-to-be back-to-back MVP ended the game with 37 points, but Brooks wasn't happy about the way he got there. Gilgeous-Alexander notoriously has one of the more favorable whistles in the league. He not only gets a lot of fouls called his way, but the Kentucky product often flops his way to free throws or pursues fouls rather than organic buckets.
"Little frail, but that's what the refs are going to call," Brooks said when asked postgame about defending Gilgeous-Alexander. "I gotta be smarter about it."
"This is the playoffs, it's a man's game," Brooks continued. "I used to watch this back when Michael Jordan was playing or whoever else. When LeBron [James] was younger, it was just physical basketball. I don't get why all the dropping, falling, and the flopping and flailing and all this stuff is allowed when we get to the playoffs. Leave that for the [regular] season for the fans. This is about who's the better team, who's a more with-it team. Don't decide the games on no free throws."
In Gilgeous-Alexander's defense, he certainly doesn't exclusively rely on free throws to find success. Not only can he hit the 3-point shot, but he is uber clutch and is one of the best interior finishers and mid-range shooters in the league. He also only had nine free-throw attempts this past game. Gilgeous-Alexander's pure talent is what can make the fact that he gets so many foul calls frustrating, though, because he can find success without needing the help of the referees. He instead chooses to exploit how the game is currently refereed, and it most hurts a physical team like the Suns . Postseason ball does typically increase in the physicality department and decrease in terms of total points and total fouls called. That hasn't been the case in this Thunder vs. Suns matchup.
Booker is normally much more cool-headed than Brooks, a player well-known as an irritant and somebody who will always speak his mind, but even Phoenix's best player felt he had to speak up on the officiating.
"In my 11 years, I haven't called a ref out by name, but James [Williams] was terrible tonight through and through," Booker said postgame. "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."
Booker was moved enough by what he thought was a competitive disadvantage that he not only put his own money on the line with a likely fine inbound, but he likened the state of the NBA to a scripted sport in professional wrestling. Phoenix's roster, and many fans around the league, regardless of their affiliations, view the way the Thunder are refereed as something that gives them a clear leg up going into every game. That is something that the deepest team with one of th e best players in the sport simply doesn't need. On top of that, Phoenix was given numerous technical fouls throughout the game. Tensions are always high in the playoffs, and technicals equate to free points for the Thunder.
Booker received a technical that he never got an explanation for, and he feels as though Alex Caruso persuaded the referees into punishing Booker with a T. The Suns have every right to be mad, but will Brooks and Booker's comments lead to change ahead of Game 3?
Related: Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals hand injury after Game 2 win vs. Suns
Related: Suns' Mat Ishbia stands by Devin Booker's comments, urges NBA to fix referee problem
