The OKC Thunder went up 2-0 after beating the Phoenix Suns again last night. But this was far from a typical victory. Officiating has become a really alarming problem for the NBA. The older players’ ask is clear: They want accountability flowing both ways, the same way they are penalized for bad conduct on and off the court. This time, it was Devin Booker who reached his absolute breaking point, and it’s understandable why.

Booker committed three personal fouls in the game, and was also the target for multiple fouls. One of them came at a crucial time, when his team was trailing by 13 points with five minutes left in the final frame. Booker missed the subsequent free throw under pressure, but his midrange jumper on the rebound was good enough. However, the real talking point has emerged from what happened in the quarter before that one, following which the Suns‘ star didn’t mince his words about the league’s integrity.

“It’s definitely something that has to be looked into,” Booker said after the loss. “I heard Caruso tell them 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.

“It just feels disrespectful,” Booker continued. “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… Whatever I get fined for, everybody can can pull the clips and and see where the frustration comes from.”

So, here’s how it exactly went down during the third quarter.

With about two minutes left, Phoenix attempted to penetrate the three-point line through the left lane. Booker, free from his marker, off a screen, charged towards the paint with the ball but was driven out of bounds after Jalen Williams bumped into him. The latter defensive move was rightfully called a foul, and the Suns’ star got his free throw for it. Now, it was instinctive for Booker to flip the ball back in and save the possession during that play, but it hit Williams in the process. Weirdly, after a crowd formed around the ref, a technical foul was called on Booker!

Are you confused? Don’t worry, we are all confused, so were the announcers, and so was Booker himself. In an attempt to make sense out of this, Booker could’ve only been called for a technical foul when he inbounded the ball onto Williams. But in no way was that an aggressive or unsportsmanlike play. Well, the Suns’ star did almost run into the Thunder’s bench and took the support of a staffer to stop himself from falling. That isn’t a foul, though.

In case you were wondering, no pool report has dropped yet, nor has the NBA commented on its social handle. After the game, Booker made it clear that he had never received an explanation for why he was given a technical foul. This clearly indicates that there has been no internal discussion behind the scenes. Booker ended the game with 22 points, seven rebounds, and four assists across 40 minutes, going 7 of 14 from the field and 8 of 10 from the charity stripe. But that Booker play wasn’t the only incident that sparked controversy.

Dillon Brooks confronted Luguentz Dort in the third quarter, and it resulted in double technical fouls being called with 8:15 remaining. There were also a couple of notable interactions between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Brooks. After hitting a jumper over Brooks with under five minutes left in the second quarter, SGA mockingly pointed at his opponent and talked trash while backpedaling. With a smile, the reigning MVP said that it was in response to the Suns player “screaming and hollering” and for “doing his usual antics” after blocking his shot on the previous possession.

However, Brooks wasn’t in the mood to back down, and he hit back at SGA and the referees after the game. “I think I got to look back at it and see if there are really fouls,” Brooks said. “But all I know is when I be watching, when I was out of the playoffs or I’ve been in the playoffs or I’d be watching from before I was in the NBA, it’s straight physical.” Now, to put that into context, the numbers speak for themselves because SGA has attempted 26 free throws over two games in the postseason. During the regular season, he averaged a staggering nine attempts a game from the charity stripe, ranking third across the league.

In the past, Mike Brown, Jalen Green, Nick Nurse, Chris Finch, and many more have gone ballistic over the referees’ perceived favoritism toward OKC. It has become a league-wide narrative that hasn’t been officially addressed yet. But if the Thunder win another title or SGA wins another MVP award, outside pressure will likely prompt the league’s management to take action in the near future. It’s the product that’s taking a hit at the end of the day.

And at this point, Booker isn’t worried about a fine. He wants to see a radical change for the NBA’s betterment. If players are held responsible for their actions, so should the referees. They are also professionals hired to do a job. With the NBA being the most prominent basketball league, the least they can do at this point is evaluate officials and hope to solve this problem.

How Devin Booker and the Suns fell down 0-2 to the Thunder

Phoenix’s troubles continue to grow beyond frustration against the officials. On the other hand, the Thunder executed another flawless game plan to take a convincing 2-0 lead in the first-round series. They were hounds on the defensive end, and as sharp and clinical when scoring the ball. The Suns had three 20+ point scorers. Dillon Brooks led the way with 30, thanks to a late burst of life in the fourth. Jalen Green and Devin Booker combined for 43 points but went a combined 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. OKC’s defense suffocated them, forcing 21 turnovers overall. Those errors resulted in 22 points.

Unsurprisingly, the defending champions had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to put the game to rest. After being crowned Clutch Player of the Year before the game, SGA proceeded to drop 37 points and 9 assists, shooting 52% from the field. However, OKC suffered a major blow that could alter their playoff fate…

Jalen Williams played like a beast in his 23 minutes. He scored 19 and played inspiring defense. But in the third quarter, Williams exited the game with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury. The dynamic guard had suffered from a right hamstring injury that limited him to just 33 games in the regular season.

The series will now shift to Phoenix, where the Suns will attempt to stage a comeback. They did claim a win over a fully healthy Thunder team at home in January, while being without Jalen Green themselves. The postseason now presents an entirely different challenge. However, the Suns aren’t a team to throw in the towel halfway through the contest. Expected a jab or two in return.