Ahead of Game 4 between the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers, Suns head coach Monty Williams used his pre-game press conference to vent his frustration about the ending of Game 3.
“We shouldn't have been the only team having guys getting thrown out,” Williams said.
In the final minute of Game 3, Phoenix wing Devin Booker was ejected after Booker's flagrant-2 foul on Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder. Jae Crowder got mixed up in the discussion and was tossed.
“Can’t happen. Can’t do that,” Anthony Davis said in his on-court interview after the incident. “I mean, they’ve been chirping, it’s playoff basketball. But you don’t push a guy out the air like that, two hands. It’s a dirty play, Dennis could’ve really gotten hurt right there. We keep it in-between the lines. I know Monty (Williams), he’s not that type of coach … my coach for three years. But that just can’t happen. Hard fouls, things like that, 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 are unacceptable.”
Schroder thought Booker's actions warranted a suspension, which did not happen.
Williams brought up a Game 1 skirmish in which Suns guard Cameron Payne was ejected in the moments following Chris Paul's highly questionable box-out of LeBron James. During the stoppage, Payne began jawing with Alex Caruso, prompting Harrell to sprint into the skirmish and knock Payne over. Caruso and Harrell were given technical fouls.
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The Suns have been complaining about the officiating all series.
“There's a certain part of playoff basketball that you have to get used to,” Williams said before Game 3. “It's going to be more physical, the refs are going to allow for more physicality. My only concern is that it's the same both ways. That's what I've expressed to the league the last couple of days. I've seen things that don't necessarily exactly line up on both sides of the ball the way that I think that they should.”
After Game 3, Paul spent nearly his entire post-game presser subtweeting NBA official/Sith Lord Scott Foster.
The Lakers have been called for 60 fouls in the series, compared to 67 for Phoenix.
Unrelated: this.
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