Suns' Devin Booker calls out refs after controverial tech vs. Grizzlies

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Throughout the Phoenix Suns’ game against the Memphis Grizzlies, there was some clear tension from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.

In the third quarter, Durant and Desmond Bane went face to face in a heated moment. Following the end of the third quarter, the final period began, and Booker was assessed a technical foul.

Looking back at the replay, it was unclear what the foul was for. There was plentiful trash talk during Monday’s game, most notably with Bane and Cam Spencer of the Grizzlies.

Following the game though, Booker remained puzzled at the officiating.

“The officials have to do a better job of understanding it is a high-intensity game,” Booker said via AZCentral’s Duane Rankin. “There’s a lot at stake. Letting the whistle fly. Like my tech shouldn’t have happened.”

“We tied the ball game up. So I said, ‘They were just talking all that shit, we’re right back in it.’ Then I asked the ref, ‘Did you hear what I said?’ He said, just what I repeated, and said, ‘I have to keep the game under control after the situation that just happened.'”

Devin Booker was confused at Suns’ officiating

While tensions fly high in every basketball game, Booker makes a point. The Grizzlies are a team to get under their opponents skin. However, there has to be a double standard.

Some of the technical fouls were beyond unnecessary, like Booker’s. While Durant and Bane got in each other’s faces, the Suns’ shooting guard was simply barking back at players.

It felt a bit unnecessary to give him a technical foul when he was simply responding. Not to mention, Phoenix tied up the game and had the momentum on their side.

Once the technical foul happened against Booker, it felt like the beginning of the end. Even though the Suns can be scrappy, it felt a bit too one-sided with some of the officiating.

Either way, this was a game that might’ve been in Phoenix’s favor had the officiating been right down the middle. After all, they led by as many as 16 points in the first half.

Some of those calls were a momentum shift, to say the least. Even though Suns guard Bradley Beal says the team was ready to go vs the Grizzlies, the officiating was something they certainly didn’t expect.

The team will travel to Houston and take on the Rockets in their final game of this road trip. Then, they will head back to Phoenix and try to salvage some of the losses and secure a play-in spot.

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