Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
The Phoenix Suns picked up a huge statement win over the Los Angeles Lakers last night but it was overshadowed by Devin Booker‘s odd ejection.
The Phoenix Suns have been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season. While we all anticipated that they would be much improved by the addition of Chris Paul, not many expected them to be in the second seed in the Western Conference with the All-Star Game happening this weekend. Still, that is exactly where they stand, now one game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, whom they beat in an interesting win on Tuesday night.
The Suns took down the Anthony Davis-less Lakers 114-104 in what should have been a statement game on the national stage. Instead, the win is being overshadowed by the fact that one of the league’s brightest young stars in Devin Booker was ejected in the middle of the third quarter.
The nature of the ejection is getting NBA fans talking.
Devin Booker ejected in Suns win over the Lakers
Booker was hit with two technical fouls back-to-back with 7:10 left in the third quarter after the Suns were called for a shooting foul against LeBron James. Booker seems to have said something to referee Tyler Ford, who called the first technical. Instantly after, Booker passed the ball to another ref, and referee Justin Van Duyne assessed the second technical and ejected Booker.
Watch the sequence below.
I can’t seem to find any action in the video that justified the second technical. Can you?
This lends to a broader conversation about the officiating in the NBA this season as the stripes seem to be a little quicker to punish players than they have been in the past. Do you think the NBA needs to address the officiating as a whole this season?