Game 4 of the NBA Finals was one of the best games in recent memory.
The Milwaukee Bucks were able to tie up the series 2-2 against the Phoenix Suns.
However, if the Suns were to win this game, we would have been talking about a specific moment.
During the fourth quarter, the Suns’ best player, Devin Booker, was one foul away from being disqualified from the game.
Booker was dealing with foul trouble all game, despite having a great performance.
Jrue Holiday was on his way to an easy fastbreak layup, until Booker committed the foul on him.
Usually, a play like that is the obvious move to make to stop the easy basket.
However, Booker had five fouls at the time.
It was not a smart move and Booker was out for the game.
Well, that is not exactly what happened.
Booker fouled Holiday on purpose, but it was never called.
Refs swallow their whistle on this call. This would’ve been Devin Booker’s 6th foul pic.twitter.com/3DfZIaeWzv
— CrossedSports (@crossedsportsig) July 15, 2021
Mike Breen was on the telecast and called it a foul, as he was expecting the whistle.
That whistle never came.
Why was Booker not called for the foul?
It Is The NBA Finals
The NBA Finals feature the biggest games that this sport can offer.
We see the biggest stars battle it out for the ultimate prize.
The likes of LeBron James and Michael Jordan have been in the Finals to give it that star appeal.
The NBA loves to see their best players play on the biggest stage.
For this year’s Finals, one of the best players in it is Booker.
Booker is not a superstar like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Chris Paul.
However, he is an up and coming superstar with his play this season.
That is why it should not be a shock that the referees swallowed their whistle when Booker committed that foul.
The NBA Finals are meant for the stars, which the NBA loves.
They do not want the referees to take out the best players in the series.
Booker Was On Fire
The foul that was never called is going to be the story for the Suns side of things, but there was more to it.
Booker was phenomenal in Game 4 and could’ve been better.
The Suns' starters in Game 4:
Devin Booker – 42
Everyone else – 38 pic.twitter.com/XvRsn9bKOg— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 15, 2021
He finished with 42 points and could have made it more without the foul trouble.
His third-quarter performance would have discussed for a long time had they won this game.
Booker scored 18 points, while not missing a single shot in the quarter.
He was the sole reason why the Suns were taking a lead into the fourth quarter.
That foul trouble hindered the performance a little bit, but it was still epic.
That is why that foul was not going to be called .
The game was not going to be decided over Booker not realizing he couldn’t take that foul on that fast break.
The referees bailed him out to keep the game competitive.
We have seen that before and will definitely see that again.
Booker was too good for a foul to be called that late in the game during the NBA Finals.
Yours is the most astute explanation of the Devin Booker grab and foul model which doesn’t get called. The last two games have highlighted it. The fifth game made it even more obvious.
In the fifth game, the slo motion on the Middleton drive in the last 2 minutes when Booker clearly fouled him emphasizes your point. No call; merely out of bounds Milwaukee. Van Gundy and Jackson highlighted the miss.
Then Booker runs into and knocks down the screen with 45 seconds to go – no call – the foul would have had Tucker shooting foul shots; doesn’t happen. Breen notes that the refs are letting the teams play basically unchecked. Not the case actually, only for Booker and Antetokounmpo (see below).
Earlier in the game Booker should have had two offensive fouls called when he was hooking Tucker who was covering him. That puts Booker in foul trouble early and on the bench. Refs can’t have that happen.
Then, in the last minute, when Holiday takes the ball out of Booker’s hands and feeds Antetokounmpo at the very end, Paul intentionally shoves Giannis out of bounds. If that had happened on the road, that would have been evaluated as a flagrant one. Also, if Chris Paul is called for a flagrant one, then the game is over.
Your point is that the NBA playoff is a media business, and the refs have been guided to preserve the competitive value of each game. If Booker is off the court, either because he is in foul trouble or has fouled out, the Suns cannot win; More Importantly, THE SUNS WON’ T EVEN BE COMPETITIVE.
On the Milwaukee side, as Van Gundy noted, big men like Lopez never get calls when they are fouled. The small guys get the calls, WITH ONE MAJOR EXCEPTION, Giannis.
Giannis can run over defenders, but refs give him the calls. WHY? Because Yiannis shooting foul shots in Phoenix is great TV, with the crowd doing the count 1-10 and then Giannis showing he is human by missing foul shots regularly.
The league brass needs to be careful, because if the refs continue to swallow their whistles, not just on fouls, but on players palming the ball and more than anything, traveling – it’s now up to 3 and 1/2 steps for Devin Booker without bouncing the ball – at some point, fans will equate the sport to the WWE. Maybe not a bad thing but these NBA players are a lot more expensive than the WWE actors.
The referee work in the finals has been weak and inconsistent. Why