00:00What's up Suns fans, let's talk about last night, Saturday night at the Mortgage Matchup Center.
00:06Things got heated between our guy Devin Booker and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid as the
00:11first half ended, both players were hit with double technical fouls. The situation built up
00:17during a tough second quarter in what ended as a 109-103 loss for us. Booker confronted his former
00:26Team USA teammate, Joel Embiid, about what he believed was a series of foul-baiting plays.
00:32The technicals were called right after the final play of the half, when Booker was guarding Embiid,
00:37Embiid spun, hit the deck with no whistle, and then words were exchanged. After the game,
00:43Booker spoke on it. He said, I got into it with him a little bit at halftime, I told him he's too
00:49good of a player to be flopping like that, we had Olympic experience together, somebody I have high
00:54respect for, it's just competition. Remember, Booker and Embiid won a gold medal together at
00:59the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and have been competing in the NBA for a decade, the frustration came from
01:05a sequence in that second quarter, where a series of foul calls sent Embiid to the free-throw line
01:10for eight shots in less than five minutes, even our forward Dylan Brooks commented on the officiating,
01:16saying the refs did a good job for Philadelphia. Booker was confused by the technicals,
01:21claiming the official didn't even hear what was said. He explained, I asked the ref, what did I say?
01:28He said, I don't know what you said, I just saw you guys talking to each other. It's crazy out here.
01:36Brooks also called out Embiid for flopping, something the big man has been criticized for
01:40throughout his career. It's worth noting Embiid has led the NBA in free-throw attempts per game
01:45three times. Booker added his perspective, saying, they're fouls, but he's swiping through at you,
01:50so it's a tough situation to be in. Ugly style of basketball. Looking at the final stats, the 76ers
01:57only outshot us 34-31 at the free-throw line, the bigger disparities were in three-point shooting,
02:03where they went 11 for 29, and we went 11 for 46, and in rebounding, where they won that battle 50-40,
02:11Embiid finished with 33 points, and Booker put up 21. We've got two days to move on from this one
02:17before facing the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. So, my question to you Suns fam, in a physical,
02:25emotional game like that, where's the line between competitive fire and needing to just
02:30lock in on the next play?
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