The Phoenix Suns have had enough with the free throw disparity and unbalanced officiating that they have endured over the last several weeks, and was again on display as the Suns lost 122-111 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Williams ripped the game officials and described what he sees as a pattern of unfair officiating against his team in recent games following the loss that saw the Lakers shoot 46 free throws to the Suns 20, and thus outscored the Suns by 21 points at the free throw line.
“Where do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team?” Williams said following the game (h/t ESPN). “That’s just not right. I don’t care how you slice it. It is happening to us too much. Other teams are reaching, other teams are hitting, and we’re not getting the same call, and I’m tired of it. It’s old. Forty-six to 20 free throws with Devin Booker on our team. He gets 12. I mean, our bench had no free throws. It’s just … I’m over it. Been talking about the same thing for a while. Doesn’t matter what team it is.”
“We’ve been seeing some crazy stuff in different situations,” Suns point guard Chris Paul added. “I watch a lot of basketball, and … we’ve got a guy [Booker] who goes [to the rim] night in and night out and you don’t necessarily see the same [calls]. It’s crazy. Crazy how some of [the officials] too, you can’t even talk to them or approach them … because that [communication] is horrible.”
The Lakers shot a whopping 27 free throws during the first half. The Suns shot 10.
“After the game is controlled in the first half and we’re down 20 to 30 free throws, it’s kind of easier for them to give us some after that,” Booker said. “Like Chris said, I watch these games every night, so I kind of understand what’s going on. I understand the agendas that are being pushed, and trying to just get that out of my head and go out there and compete.”
