Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker was not happy that the refs gave the Los Angeles Lakers a timeout with 7.4 seconds left in regulation when it appeared that Austin Reaves didn’t have possession of the ball.
Lakers superstar LeBron James called a timeout when Booker and Kevin Durant trapped Reaves, but it looked like Reaves didn’t have control of the ball.
“We’re not asking for favoritism, just a fair chance,” Booker said. “Even in the pre-game huddles, we said we understand what type of game it’s going to be. Just keep playing all the way through it. We continued to play an uphill battle the whole time. To watch it unfold like that is tough.”
Official Josh Tiven, who served as the game’s Crew Chief, told a pool reporter that the officials correctly granted LeBron’s timeout.
“During live play, the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout,” Tiven told the pool reporter. “Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.”
Booker, who finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers against the Lakers, believes the Suns got the short end of the stick.
“The whole world’s seen it. I just got off social media and other players around the league have seen it,” Booker said. “Refs miss calls sometimes. But when they’re a bit that obvious, it’s tough.”
Booker shot only 6-of-16 from the field versus the Lakers. He didn’t have his best game. However, the three-time All-Star talked a lot about the timeout call during his postgame media session.
“My hands were back. Reaves tried to draw a foul. Once we bumped into each other, he was trying to get the ball back since then,” Booker said. “That is a good three, four or five seconds to build up before LeBron grabbed the referee and called a timeout.”
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