A lot of things went wrong for the Phoenix Suns last night against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The undermanned Suns lost by a double-digit margin to the Clippers without Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton.
While it was a disappointing loss, team leader Chris Paul was on the receiving end of a rather interesting call. CP3 was given a technical foul in the first half after he executed a successful dribble on Ivan Zubac and attempted a shot.
Paul had no idea why it was called an offensive foul, but more importantly, why he received a T. Although both teams were without crucial players, the Clippers prevailed.
CP was smelling blood in the water after that switch.
Then got called for the foul. And a technical. 😂 pic.twitter.com/HeFYIAmlhT
— patrick (@muldowney) December 14, 2021
In his post-game presser, Paul did not hide his disgust with the call and attempted to give an insight into why he believed things played out that way.
“I had an exchange with that official a few games ago about a rule about taking the ball out on one side of the court… He tried to flex. I’ve been doing this 13 years. They cleared up the rule with him though… He must be salty about it. It’s all good."
Chris Paul on his tech pic.twitter.com/1DDkhVIpg3
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) December 14, 2021
“Did I get an explanation on why I got the tech? No, I didn’t get an explanation. I had an exchange with that official a few games ago about a rule about taking the ball out on one side of the court, you know when you get fouled if you can take it out. He tried to flex.”
“I’ve been doing this 13 years, you know what I mean. They cleared up the rule with him, though, you know what I mean. They let him know what the rule was when he tried to tell me what the rule was. He must be salty about it. It’s all good.”
To Paul, it seemed like payback for the correction. It is surprising, especially since it was not Scott Fraser, a referee he has a feud with and has lost 13 of the 15 playoff games officiated by him.
Cameron Johnson was the highest-scoring Suns player with 17 points. Paul had a rough night from the field, knocking down only 4-of-14 shots to finish the game with 9 points. Added to that were 2 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals.
