Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks will likely receive another hefty fine after his critical comments of the officiating following Sunday’s 124-122 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Nov. 16 before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at Mortgage Matchup Center.
Referee Justin Van Duyne hit Brooks with a technical foul with 6:52 left in the fourth quarter and Phoenix (8-6) leading, 107-94, after Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher took a hard fall on a dunk. Brooks drew the technical when he objected to play being stopped after Risacher fell.
“His name is Justin,” Brooks said, referring to Van Duyne. “I’m not going to say no more. I don’t want to get fined, but the ref should be fined for making mistakes like that. Then after that, you’re holding a grudge the whole game. Missing calls.”
The Suns were up by as many 22 points in the fourth before squandering the lead to end their five-game winning streak. Atlanta (9-5) has won its last five games, improving to 7-2 on the road.
“I saw us playing seven against five,” Brooks said. “Emotional refs. They were making calls out of emotion. Smirking while they were making the calls. That should be reviewed.”
Brooks pointed out what he felt was a no-call on Suns teammate Devin Booker.
“Book getting stopped right there in the middle of the floor, three refs miss it,” Brooks said. . “… we might have to add a fourth ref if that’s going on. It’s just bad energy.”
Brooks called for league officials to look into the matter.
The NBA fined Brooks $25,000 for a “lewd gesture” during play in the first half of Phoenix’s 133-98 home victory Nov. 13 over the Indiana Pacers. Brooks scored 32 points in that game, the team’s fifth straight win.
In Sunday’s game, Brooks took issue with the referees stopping play after Risacher fell. Dribbling the ball up court full speed, Risacher went up for a two-handed dunk, finished it in transition, but had momentum going forward while hanging on the rim. He swung on the rim, lost control and flipped over before making a hard fall on his side with 6:58 on the clock.
The Suns looked to advance the ball as Brooks called for Mark Williams to inbound it. The Suns pushed it across halfcourt as Collin Gillespie found Dunn near the basket. As Dunn kicked the ball back out, Hawks coach Quin Snyder was on the court looking to check on Risacher and referees stopped play, a decision that Brooks questioned.
“I understand that guy (Risacher) is hurt, but at the same time, call it dead right away,” Brooks said. “We get the ball out, we’re in transition, they’re calling the play dead and then when people call it out, you want to call a (technical) and change another play, give them extra points when it’s not even their ball.”
Van Duyne gave Brooks a technical, but it wasn’t announced until after Risacher was able to get up minutes after the fall and walk to the locker room under his own power.
“I said you can not stop a play mid-play,” Brooks said. “It doesn’t happen. In my nine years, I’ve never seen that and if someone does do that, they cut the play right away. They didn’t do that. We’re dribbling the ball up the floor. We have transition and you cut the play. That makes no sense.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker made the technical free throws to cut Phoenix’s advantage to 107-95 with 6:52 left.
Brooks said the referees should’ve at least waited for the Hawks to foul, which is typically what a team does when their player gets hurt on the opposite end.
“If that’s a serious play, then call it dead right then and there,” Brooks said. “That’s outrageous. You want to tell them what’s wrong, they’re going to have to take it. They’re a ref. You want to control the game, the whole game, give calls for the other team and then not call it on the other side. Miss calls at that. That changed the whole game.”
Booker backed Brooks on the situation.
“I hope (Risacher) is OK, but the situation is they can’t call that play dead when we have advantage numbers,” Booker. “I’ve never seen it happen before and then give a tech for us calling it out. It’s a compound mistake by the refs and they just have to be better.”
Brooks also criticized Van Duyne for a play late in the first half when Hawks forward Jalen Johnson fouled Brooks.
“The guy didn’t want to make a call when the guy elbowed me in my face,” Brooks said. “He tried to rush up and hurry the play.”
After review, the call was upgraded to a flagrant 1 on Johnson.
“Somebody else has to come in there and say, ‘review it,’ and then he calls it,” Brooks said. “Like, that’s not it.”
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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