Way back in November, Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker drew attention for his postgame comments about Oklahoma City’s defense following a 123-119 road loss.
“The secret is out,” Booker said. “They do speed you up. They play aggressive. They’ll grab, they’ll hold, but it’s never like when you’re in a shooting position. It’s always on the handle or on your drives when they get away with it.”
He wasn’t the first to speak on this.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the latest to vent after Thursday’s 125-107 loss May 7 as they trail the defending NBA champions 2-0 in this Western Conference semifinals series.
“I sarcastically said the other day that they’re the most disruptive team without fouling,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after Game 2. “They have a few guys that foul on every possession and all the good defenses do.”
Game 3 of this best-of-7 series is May 9 in Los Angeles. Oklahoma City is the top overall seed in the playoffs while the Lakers are fourth seed in the West.
“They’re hard enough to play,” Redick later said. “You’ve got to be able to call it if they foul, and they do foul.”
The Suns faced the Thunder a season-high nine times this season. Oklahoma City swept Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs.
If any team understands how the Thunder play, it’s the Suns.
Phoenix’s level of frustration reached a high point after Game 2 on April 22, in Oklahoma City, in which Dillon Brooks and Booker snapped over the officiating.
“Ya’ll should be interviewing the officials,” Brooks said after the game. “That should be a new thing in the NBA. Officials got to explain themselves because it’s getting ridiculous when you can see it. It starts getting fiery. No control out there. Now they’re just whistling on one side.”
Booker took it a step further in calling out referee James Williams.
“In my 11 years, I haven’t called a ref out by name, but James was terrible tonight through and through,” Booker said. “It’s bad for the sport, bad for the integrity of the sport. People are going to start viewing this as the WWE if they’re not held responsible.”
Booker received a technical foul during the game as did Brooks and Thunder guard Lu Dort on a double technical.
The NBA later fined Booker $35,000 for “public criticism of the officiating,” but it also rescinded the technical fouls on Booker, Brooks and Dort.
“I read it as, you were right, but you can’t say anything about it,” Booker said after the Game 3 loss April 25 in Phoenix.
The Lakers have now played the Thunder six times. Game 2 led to the Lakers showing their frustration with what they feel is one-sided officiating.
“It’s a different game,” Lakers forward Rui Hachimura said after Thursday’s loss while shaking his head.
Moments after Game 2 ended, Lakers guard Austin Reaves had what amounted to a face-to-face conference call with lead official John Goble and referee Ben Taylor at halfcourt, as LeBron James and several Lakers stood there showing support.
Reaves explained after the game feeling disrespected when he felt Goble yelled at him while he was trying to get position on a jump ball. Reaves had words for Goble during that moment as Luka Doncic was the first Laker to come over and try to calm him down.
Typical complaints about Oklahoma City range from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drawing fouls to people feeling as if the Thunder flop to get fouls to being grabby on defense.
Austin Reaves and the Lakers just had a meeting with the refs after the game to share their frustration with them. pic.twitter.com/exHIVkrese
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 8, 2026
‘Guys got absolutely clobbered’
Opponents often note being called for more fouls and shooting fewer free throws.
The Lakers ended Game 2 with 26 fouls, five fewer than the Thunder. Los Angeles attempted 21 free throws, making 18. Oklahoma City as many as the Lakers attempted, going 21-of-26.
“SGA gets like, I don’t even know, a touch foul I guess on a drive,” Redick said. “There was a stretch on four straight possessions our guys got absolutely clobbered. Trying to make an entry pass to Jaxson (Hayes) and Jaylin Williams is grabbing his jersey with both arms.”
Redick further drove home his point by saying James has “the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” but added this isn’t “specific to this (officiating) crew or this series.”
Austin Reaves full postgame comments after his playoff career-high 31 points in the Lakers loss 125-107 to the OKC Thunder tonight pic.twitter.com/XlCW1PHOUg
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) May 8, 2026
Gilgeous-Alexander went 8-of-9 in Game 2 while James was just 4-of-4.
James only attempted one free throw in Game 1, which the Lakers lost, 108-90. Gilgeous-Alexander was just 2-of-3 that Cinco De Mayo night in Oklahoma City.
Part of this is the Lakers sending a message in hopes of balanced officiating Game 3. Part of it also is facing the best team in the league and feeling the odds against them.
Doncic remains sidelined for L.A., with a hamstring injury.
Another game. Another Oklahoma City win.
Thunder 125, Lakers 107 Final.
Another back-and-forth about physicality, officiating.
“They’re hard enough to play. You’ve got to be able to call it if they foul, and they do foul.” JJ Redick.
“Usually the more physical team and the… pic.twitter.com/pc260jOgWY
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) May 8, 2026
That’s making this series even more challenging for the Lakers, but the Thunder are down their second-best player in Jalen Williams, also with a hamstring injury, but continue to roll.
Oklahoma City has established a style in the last three years that’s led to having the NBA’s best defense, a league-best 189 wins during that stretch, and Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP, receiving a respectful whistle.
“Usually the more physical team and the team that imposes their will more just wins,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after Game 2.
“That’s probably why we won tonight. That’s probably why we won the last game. We did a really good job, especially in the second half, of playing our style of basketball. Being physical, pressuring them, making things uncomfortable.”
The Lakers committed 21 turnovers that led to 26 Oklahoma City points in Game 2.
Los Angeles had 13 of those 21 turnovers in the second half and the Thunder converted those into 17 points, outscoring the Lakers, 68-49, after the break.
“You’re not going to be perfect,” Reaves said in a media scrum in the visiting locker room at Paycom Center after Game 2. “Try to eliminate the live-ball turnovers when they get easy fast-break layups or 3s or dunks.”
In two games, the Lakers have 39 total turnovers.
Oklahoma City has scored 46 points off those miscues.
Phoenix can relate.
The Suns committed 64 turnovers that resulted in 85 Thunder points in their series.
The Suns took better care of the ball in Game 3 and 4 in tallying just 23 total turnovers.
Oklahoma City only scored 29 points off those, but Gilgeous-Alexander erupting for 42 in Game 3 and the Thunder shooting 17-of-34 from 3 in Game 4 doomed the Suns.
Still, forcing and scoring off turnovers, two categories in which Oklahoma City ranks top three in the NBA in the regular season and playoffs, leads to the same questions.
Are the opponents too careless? Is Oklahoma City’s defense really that good? Are the referees allowing the Thunder to get away with too much physicality?
The postgame Game 2 comments from Thunder big Chet Holmgren, 2025-26 NBA Defensive Player of the Year runner up to unanimous winner, San Antonio Spurs 7-4 phenom Victor Wembanyama, are worth noting when debating how Oklahoma City wins.
“We did a great job of being physical, but understanding when and where we can be physical,” Holmgren said. “You can be reckless out there if the goal is just to be physical, but I feel like we did a good job of kind of directing it to where it needed to be.”
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.
Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns know how Lakers feel after facing Thunder 9 times
