What would a Lakers-Suns game be without some officiating controversy?
The Pacific Division foes have met many times in recent years and, far too often, the talking point coming out of the game has been about the officials. On Monday, Phoenix handed Los Angeles it’s first loss of the season by squeezing out a narrow win.
And while neither side was specifically talking about the officials after the game, the NBA’s Last Two Minute (L2M) Report indicated they probably should have been.
With just over a minute remaining, Anthony Davis missed a layup attempt at the rim before both he and head coach JJ Redick got pretty animated toward the officials.
On Tuesday, the L2M revealed that Davis was fouled on that play and should have shot free throws.
Some consolation prize.
This is the most recent blown call that sided with the Suns and hurt the Lakers, but it is far from the only incident these two teams have had over the past few seasons.
In last season’s In-Season Tournament quarterfinal, three calls went against the Lakers down the stretch against the Suns. Luckily, the Lakers were able to still win the game, but those were big mistakes, including a sixth foul on Kevin Durant, which would've taken him out of the game.
Despite the Lakers missing three calls, the Suns were crying foul postgame, upset that the Lakers got a late timeout call. However, Crew Chief Josh Tiven indicated it was the correct call.
That was the most heated contest last season, but back in the 2022-23 campaign, Suns coach Monty Williams was fined $20k for ranting about Austin Reaves and the Lakers getting to the line too much for his liking.
Complaints about the Lakers' getting to the line have been common during the LeBron James and AD era, given that they do draw a lot of calls. This is mainly because they attack the basket and teams pack the area and make contact with them inside.
As Monday’s loss and blown call remind us, AD is constantly dealing with a lot of physicality while trying to score. With a team like the Suns who have no answer for him down low, you can bet they’ll be as physical as the refs allow.
Apparently, that physicality went a bit too far during crunch time and allowed Plumlee to get away with more than he should’ve.
With the Lakers and Suns playing in the same division, plenty of matchups between the two are still left on the schedule. Hopefully, this is the last game with missed calls that go against the purple and gold.
