Suns’ Booker, Brooks Rip Officiating After Game 2 Loss
After losing a second consecutive game in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Suns guard Devin Booker and forward Dillon Brooks aired their displeasure with the game’s officials during their respective post-game media sessions, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Doug Haller of The Athletic.
Asked about a technical foul he received during the third quarter, Booker said he never received an explanation for the call. The Suns guard was bumped by Thunder big man Jaylin Williams and threw the ball behind him as he was falling out of bounds, attempting to save it and throwing it off Williams in the process (Twitter video link). Although Williams was called for a personal foul on the play, Booker was also hit with a tech after some lobbying from Thunder guard Alex Caruso.
“It’s definitely something that has to be looked into,” Booker said. “I heard Caruso tell him to call the tech and he ended up doing it. In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James (Williams) was terrible tonight, through and through. 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 also called for a pair of offensive fouls while being defending by Caruso, including one where the two guards got tangled up running down the court (video link) and another where Caruso was defending him in the post (video link). Addressing the latter call, Booker said he was told he made an “unnatural shooting motion,” a ruling he strongly disagreed with.
“It just feels disrespectful,” Booker said of the officiating. “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. … This is my first time (criticizing the officiating) in 11 years, but it’s needed. Whatever I get fined for it, everybody can pull the clips and see where the frustration is from.”
Brooks, meanwhile, was asked during his post-game presser about a fourth quarter play where he was called for his fifth foul while defending Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (video link).
“You all should be interviewing the officials,” Brooks said, according to Haller. “That should be a new thing in the NBA. Officials got to explain themselves. It’s getting ridiculous, and you can see it starts getting fiery. And there’s no control out there. And now they’re just whistling on one side.”
Brooks also referred to Gilgeous-Alexander as a “little frail,” adding that he needs to “be smarter” when he’s guarding his Team Canada teammate, based on what the referees are willing to call.
” I used to watch this back when Michael Jordan was playing or whoever else, when LeBron (James) was younger,” Brooks said, per MacMahon. “This is physical basketball. I don’t get why all the dropping and the falling and the flopping and the 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.”
The defending champion Thunder have outscored the Suns by a total of 48 points through the first two games of the series, though star forward Jalen Williams‘ availability is uncertain as the series heads to Phoenix for Game 3.
Suns Notes: Williams, Allen, Goodwin, Ott, Brooks
Suns center Mark Williams, who missed 15 games in March due to a third metatarsal stress reaction in his left foot, sat out last Friday’s play-in game vs. Golden State and Sunday’s Game 1 against Oklahoma City due to what the team called left foot soreness. According to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Williams was wearing a walking boot at the Suns’ facility on Tuesday.
However, when head coach Jordan Ott was asked on Tuesday if Williams would be ruled out for the rest of the first-round series, he said the club is “just continuing to take it day-by-day,” per Rankin. And the Suns’ injury report doesn’t suggest they’re necessarily expecting a lengthy absence for the big man — he’s considered questionable to suit up on Wednesday for Game 2.
Still, it’s worth noting that Williams’ injury designation has been updated to “left foot third metatarsal stress reaction,” confirming that the soreness he’s experiencing is directly related to the issue that sidelined him last month.
We have more on the Suns, including a couple more injury updates:
- Suns wing Grayson Allen hasn’t played since April 10 due to a left hamstring strain, despite being listed as available for each of the team’s past two contests. He went through a full practice on Tuesday and is “definitely making progress,” according to Ott (via Rankin). Allen is considered questionable for Game 2, though even if his status is upgraded, it’s unclear whether he’ll actually see any action.
- Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, who missed seven straight games in left February and early March due to a left calf strain, is dealing with soreness in that same calf. As Rankin notes, he missed the second half of Sunday’s game and is listed as questionable to play on Wednesday. “(He) feels pretty good,” Ott said on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s quite as bad as it was in February. We know it’s the playoffs. We always talk about all hands on deck. So we’ll take whoever we can get at this time of the year. Any minutes from any of those guys is impactful and helpful for our group. We’ll wait and see (Wednesday).”
- Ott was impressive during his first regular season as a head coach, but he faces a new challenge in these playoffs against the defending champions and the No. 1 seed in the West, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic. While Haller acknowledges that no one expects Ott’s Suns to beat Oklahoma City, he says it’s important the team is competitive over the course of the series.
- Suns forward Dillon Brooks – who earned praise from rival Draymond Green for the impact he has made in Phoenix this season, as Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area details – says he’s determined to make Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander work harder on defense in Game 2, per Rankin. “You see a guy like that going hard on the offensive end all game and trying to get a rest on defense,” Brooks said. “I’ll find a way to make him use his legs, use his hands, use his mind on that defensive end, most of the time, he’s going to break down and then you can go out and make plays.”
Suns Notes: Green, Booker, Williams, Allen, Fleming, Brooks
Injuries prevented Jalen Green from contributing to the Suns for most of the season, but he made up for it with 36 points and eight three-pointers in Friday’s play-in victory over Golden State, writes Doug Haller of The Athletic. It was a satisfying performance for Green, who was limited to 32 regular season games, mostly due to a hamstring injury he suffered during training camp that led to a long and frustrating healing process.
“Getting injured in the first place, coming back,” he recalled. “Getting injured again, coming back. I think it happened like three or four times. It was hard.”
Green admitted that he enjoyed eliminating the Warriors, who defeated his Houston team in seven games last year in his first playoff appearance. Even so, he was grateful for a post-game chat with Stephen Curry, whom he credits for helping to develop his game, relays Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“He was just telling me to handle business in OKC,” Green said. “Coming from Steph, it means a lot to chop it up with him and just hear from him at the end of the day, just because I was maybe 16 years old when he was having me come out to Oakland just to work out with him. So he’s kind of been somewhat of a mentor. I was able to get his number and reach out throughout these years. So he’s been kind of something like a mentor. And playing against him is always great. He’s one of the greatest shooters — greatest players of all time.”
There’s more from Phoenix:
- Devin Booker and Draymond Green both got tossed from Friday’s game after a prolonged shouting match late in the fourth quarter, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Booker downplayed the heated exchange in a post-game session with the media. “It’s nothing man,” he said. “I’ve been there before and I understand the situation. My big brother used to beat me in NBA Live back in the day and I’d throw a fit. He’s a competitor. He loves the sport.”
- Mark Williams (left foot soreness) and Grayson Allen (left hamstring) are listed as questionable for Sunday’s series opener at Oklahoma City, Rankin states in a separate story. Both players sat out Friday’s game, although Williams played 22 minutes in Tuesday’s play-in contest against Portland. Allen, who was injured on April 10, was on the active roster on Friday but wasn’t used.
- Rasheer Fleming looks like part of the Suns’ future after a promising rookie season, Rankin adds in another piece. Phoenix traded up to the top of the second round in last year’s draft to get Fleming, who made his first career start in the season finale and posted 16 points. “It’s been a great experience, honestly, on both ends,” he said. “For me to be able to watch and to be able to be on the floor throughout the season, it’s been great.”
- The Suns’ playoff appearance will result in a $1MM bonus for Dillon Brooks, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The bonus had been classified as unlikely because Phoenix didn’t qualify for the postseason last year.
Pacific Notes: Green, Clippers, Allen, Williams
The Warriors lost Friday night at Sacramento, but they delivered a dominant performance in the third quarter that gives coach Steve Kerr some hope heading into the play-in tournament, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Golden State won the quarter by a 38-19 margin and held a seven-point lead before Kerr rested most of his rotation players down the stretch in the meaningless game.
After Draymond Green said earlier this week that it’s hard to get excited about the play-in, Kerr challenged his veteran leader to do a better job of inspiring the team. Green’s trademark aggressiveness returned on Friday, leading to big plays on both ends of the court and a few skirmishes.
“We were not good defensively,” Kerr said. “We had one good stretch in the game, third quarter. I thought we set a tone defensively. Obviously, Draymond got things stirred up a little bit. We needed that, that fire, that edge.”
Trailing by 12 points at intermission, the Warriors got back into the game with a 12-2 run early in the second half. They held the Kings to 1-of-9 shooting during that stretch and Green goaded Devin Carter into a Flagrant 1 foul that turned up the intensity. Green got into a shoving match with Maxime Raynaud, then Gary Payton II picked up a Flagrant 1 of his own for an aggressive screen on Carter. He was later whistled for a technical for throwing the ball at Carter.
The exchanges brought some life to a team that has been through a difficult second half of the season.
“I mean, I was just laughing at a lot of it, pretty funny stuff going out there,” Brandin Podziemski said. “Everyone was just kind of having fun with the game.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- After falling to Portland on Friday, the Clippers need to beat Golden State in the season finale to have any hope of moving up to the No. 8 seed, notes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register (subscription required). L.A. fell into an early 20-point deficit against the Blazers, but rallied to take the lead before collapsing late in the game. Now the team will need help to avoid starting the postseason on the brink of elimination. “I mean, we just got to do it the Clippers’ way, the hard way every time. Never easy,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “We are still in it and we’re OK. And like I said, they beat us. They’re a good team and Tiago (Splitter, Portland’s interim coach) has done a hell of a job this season filling in. They played better than us.”
- Suns guard Grayson Allen was forced out of Friday’s game against the Lakers after hurting his hamstring in the second quarter, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The injury occurred when he landed after making a difficult shot over L.A. center Deandre Ayton. Allen has been ruled out of Sunday’s game, Rankin adds in a separate story, along with Devin Booker (right ankle injury management), Dillon Brooks (left second metacarpal injury management) and Royce O’Neale (left knee injury management).
- In an interview posted on the Arizona Republic website, Suns center Mark Williams talks about enjoying the healthiest season of his career. He was available for 60 games, topping his previous high of 44.
Dillon Brooks Has Tech Rescinded, Can Play Tuesday
Suns wing Dillon Brooks has received a reprieve from the league office.
His technical foul that was issued with 7:24 remaining in the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s game against the Bulls on Sunday has been rescinded, per the NBA (Twitter link). Brooks had faced a suspension for picking up his 18th technical, which would have triggered an automatic one-game league ban. He’ll now be able to suit up against his former team, the Rockets, on Tuesday.
Brooks and Bulls guard Mac McClung both received technicals for a verbal dust-up during the contest. McClung’s technical was also rescinded by the league.
Brooks was previously suspended for the Suns’ game against the Spurs on Feb. 19 after receiving his 16th technical the previous week. Brooks then broke his left hand against Orlando on Feb. 21 and missed more than five weeks of action. He returned last Tuesday and was assessed his 17th tech that night. He has averaged 12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists over the last three games.
A player who accumulates 16 technical fouls in a season is automatically assessed a one-game suspension and faces additional one-game bans for every two techs beyond that.
Phoenix, which has the seventh-best record in the West, is still clinging to small hopes of moving past Minnesota and avoiding the play-in tournament.
Dillon Brooks To Return Tuesday For Suns
Suns forward Dillon Brooks will return to action on Tuesday in Orlando, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.
The news doesn’t come as a surprise, as a report last week indicated that Brooks was expected to return early in Phoenix’s road trip, which began with a win in Memphis on Monday. Still, it’s certainly a welcome development for the Suns.
Brooks has been sidelined since February 21, when he broke his left hand in a game against the Magic. He’ll make his return for Phoenix’s second and final matchup with Orlando this season.
The 30-year-old wing has appeared in 50 games in his first season as a Sun, averaging a career-high 20.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steal per night on .440/.343/.856 shooting splits. He was projected to miss between four and six weeks following surgery, and will be back in just over five.
Brooks and Mark Williams (left foot stress reaction) went through a 5-on-5 practice on Saturday for the first time since they sustained their respective injuries. They went through another 5-on-5 session on Monday, Rankin reports in a full story.
“We got out of it alright,” Suns head coach Jordan Ott said before Monday’s game. “Now you just got to see how it responds the day after. … They’ve both taken steps. They’re just ready to play. We’re ready to have them.”
Last week’s report from John Gambadoro indicated that Williams, who has been out since March 3, was likely to return later in the road trip. The Suns play at Charlotte on Thursday and in Chicago on Sunday.
Grayson Allen (left knee injury management) was also unavailable on Monday, though Ott suggested the team was just being cautious with the veteran shooting guard on the front end of a back-to-back. Haywood Highsmith (right knee injury management) and Amir Coffey (left ankle sprain) remained sidelined as well; it was Highsmith’s sixth consecutive absence and Coffey’s fifth.
Pacific Notes: Green, Curry, Porzingis, Suns, Jackson
Draymond Green says longtime Warriors teammate Stephen Curry shouldn’t try to return this season if he has “an inkling of doubt” about the condition of his right knee, “but if he’s healthy and he can play” then Curry has Green’s full support as he works toward a comeback, Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle writes in a subscriber-only story.
A report on Friday stated that Curry will be reevaluated in another week to see if his knee has progressed enough to make a return realistic. Green added that every player wants to excel in the postseason — the 38-year-old Curry may not have many more opportunities at this stage of his career.
“You just know he wants to play,” Green said. “He wants to be out there. … But I think where you get a little worried and you know he wants to come back and he hasn’t. That’s when you start looking at the clock tick … not from a standpoint of like, ‘Yo, when’s he coming back?’ But just like — I know he’s working to get back, and if not now, then what’s going on? I think you more so get a little worried but not from a standpoint of, ‘He’s going to save the day.’ (But) from a standpoint of like, ‘Oh, man. Your brother down. What the hell is going on?’”
Curry’s absence, combined with season-ending injuries to Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, have left the Warriors a shell of what they were earlier in the season. They’re currently 10th in the West at 36-38 and may have to win two games to advance out of the play-in tournament, but there’s still a glimmer of hope if Curry returns. In the meantime, Green has accepted the mantle of on-court leader.
“You just can’t be the guy that quits when it gets tough,” he said. “I’ve had some incredible years here. Been a part of some incredible teams. … When that stuff is happening, you want to be at the forefront of it. You want to embrace it, enjoy it, all those things. It’s great. But when it goes a little left, you can’t jump off the train. You can’t walk around and pout. You can’t throw in the towel — or what was everything you did before?”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Kristaps Porzingis led the way with 28 points on Friday as the Warriors defeated Washington for their first three-game winning streak in more than two months. Porzingis was 5-of-11 from three-point range, even though he’s dealing with pain in his shooting wrist, Gordon adds in a separate story. “Honestly, it’s not feeling good,” Porzingis said after practice Thursday. “I kept shooting, except it goes in anyway. Once I get it right, right, you’re going to see — there’s a difference for sure.”
- Suns big man Oso Ighodaro credits “mental will” for helping him play every game so far this season, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. Ighodaro worked to build up his body during the offseason in hopes of becoming the first Phoenix player to be active for all 82 games since Mikal Bridges. “The preparation I put into my body this summer and my preparation in the weight room,” Ighodaro said. “God willing I can continue it and continue to play every game this season.”
- Dillon Brooks and Mark Williams were both able to play five-on-five Saturday for the first time since being injured, Rankin tweets. Brooks has been sidelined since February 21 with a fracture in his left hand, and Williams has been out of action since March 3 with a third metatarsal stress reaction in his left foot. “Good start. Everything is headed in the right direction,” Suns coach Jordan Ott said.
- Clippers backup center Isaiah Jackson is questionable for Sunday’s game at Milwaukee due to a sprained right ankle, according to Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Injury Notes: Oubre, Maxey, Edwards, Brown, Lakers, Jazz, Suns
After missing the Sixers‘ last eight games due to a left elbow sprain, forward Kelly Oubre Jr. said today that he’ll be back in action on Saturday in Charlotte, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports.
With Paul George and Joel Embiid both having returned earlier this week, Philadelphia is close to being back to full strength — only star guard Tyrese Maxey, out since March 7 due to a finger injury, remains sidelined, and he’s due to be reevaluated in the coming days.
Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Friday that Maxey has been “a lot more involved” in activities during the past 48 hours, tweets Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports. Nurse added that Maxey has been diligent about keeping up his conditioning during his recovery process, which suggests he shouldn’t require much of a ramp-up period.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome) will miss a sixth straight game on Saturday vs. Detroit, per the team (Twitter link). However, Edwards has been cleared for on-court practice activities, according to the Wolves, which suggests his return may not be far off. In order to meet the 65-game minimum to qualify for end-of-season awards, Edwards would have to suit up for each of Minnesota’s final eight games of the season, beginning on Monday.
- Celtics star Jaylen Brown has been ruled out for Friday’s game vs. Atlanta due to left Achilles tendinitis, the team announced (via Twitter). Brown, an All-NBA lock, needs to appear in one more game to reach the 65-game threshold and become eligible for end-of-season awards.
- Lakers teammates Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Rui Hachimura (calf) have both been upgraded to available after initially being listed as questionable for Friday’s matchup with the Nets, tweets NBA reporter Mark Medina.
- Although Jaren Jackson Jr. is still expected to miss the rest of the season, he’s making good progress in his recovery from a procedure to remove a non-cancerous growth in his left knee. He has resumed individual on-court work and will be reevaluated in two weeks, writes Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune. Reynolds also checks in on a few other injured Jazz players, suggesting that forward Lauri Markkanen (hip) and Keyonte George (hamstring) could still return before the end of the season.
- Injured Suns Dillon Brooks (hand) and Mark Williams (foot) are making progress in their respective injury recoveries, but they’ve yet to participate in any 5-on-5 work, head coach Jordan Ott said today (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).
Injury Notes: Brooks, Williams, Ivey, Embiid, Shamet
The Suns could get a couple of starters back from injuries next week, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link), who expects Dillon Brooks to return early in the team’s road trip and Mark Williams to be back later in the week. Phoenix’s road trip begins next Monday in Memphis and concludes the following Sunday at Chicago.
Brooks underwent surgery last month to repair a fractured left hand. The 30-year-old wing is four weeks removed from that injury, which was expected to sideline him around four-to-six weeks.
Williams, meanwhile, has been out since March 3 after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left foot. The 24-year-old center will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- The Bulls upgraded Jaden Ivey (left knee soreness) to questionable on Sunday before downgrading him to out. He’ll miss his 16th consecutive game Monday against Houston. According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link), Ivey recently returned to practice but he banged knees with a teammate and will be seen by a doctor on Monday night. Head coach Billy Donovan previously said Ivey, an impending restricted free agent, would travel on Chicago’s four-game road trip; that’s now up in the air after his new injury.
- Sixers star Joel Embiid went through Monday’s shootaround and also did some individual work afterward, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. The veteran center, who is recovering from a right oblique strain, is expected to go through a more rigorous workout on Tuesday and will be reevaluated after that, Bodner adds. Monday marks Embiid’s 13th consecutive absence.
- Knicks wing Landry Shamet is out again Tuesday due to a tibial plateau contusion, also known as a bone bruise, in his right knee, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (All Twitter links). Shamet suffered the injury in Friday’s game at Brooklyn and sat out Sunday’s win over Washington. However, Bondy hears it isn’t serious and expects the veteran guard/forward to return “within a few games, if that.” Shamet has been a key reserve for New York this season, Bondy notes.
Pacific Notes: Brooks, Maluach, Payton, Porzingis, Curry
Suns wing Dillon Brooks was arrested on suspicion of DUI early Friday morning. His teammates say Brooks apologized to them for his actions, according to Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.
“Just hate to see it for him, but he’s human. We’re all humans,” Collin Gillespie said. “We’re not above anybody else. We all make mistakes. He knows that. He owned it He apologized to the team, but we got his back. Human beings make mistakes, we all make mistakes. Learn from it. He’s just in the public eye more than any other regular human being. That stuff goes on every day and you just don’t hear about it from other people because it’s not ‘Dillon Brooks’ per se.”
Brooks, who is sidelined with a fractured hand, was in attendance for the Suns game on Friday but didn’t speak to the media.
“I know he feels really bad about it,” Grayson Allen said. “I’m sure whenever he feels like he needs to say something, he’ll say something, but we’re still focusing on what we can do on the court with him out. We want to get him back and hold it down in the meantime.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Suns barely held off the Pelicans, 118-116, on Friday. Rookie lottery pick Khaman Maluach had a career-high five blocks in a season-high 20 minutes after posting 10 in his previous 27 games. “The biggest thing is just that he knows he’s getting consistent minutes,” coach Jordan Ott said, per Rankin. “Hopefully, the first-game jitters of being in there were out after last night. Doesn’t change, we wouldn’t put you in there if we didn’t believe in you, and we’re going to continue to help him.”
- If Seattle gets an expansion team, Gary Payton II wants to be a part of it. His father Gary Payton, of course, was a longtime star with the SuperSonics. He said, perhaps jokingly, that he’d request a trade from the Warriors to play there. “Respectfully. I love it here so much. But if we do (have a Seattle team) when I’m still here, I definitely want to go back and play there,” he told Nick Friedell of The Athletic. In any case, he’d like to see the NBA have a team in the city. “It was like a dream come true all over again,” he said of a potential franchise in Seattle. “To be able to see them, to be able to go there and we have an opportunity to sit down and watch a game. Hopefully, they can do it here in a few years so I can possibly go back and put on a Seattle SuperSonics jersey. But other than that, it’s for the basketball culture. Even if I do play for them or not, it will be good for the city of Seattle and good for the NBA.”
- Kristaps Porzingis and Seth Curry have been upgraded to questionable for the Warriors‘ game on Saturday in Oklahoma City, ESPN’s Anthony Slater tweets. Porzingis, battling an illness, has only played once for Golden State since being acquired at the trade deadline. Curry has been out since Dec. 4 due to a sciatic nerve-related injury