'You tell me?' Suns in disbelief after free throw disparity in one-point road loss to Heat

MIAMI – Devin Booker kept smiling through the contact, hard falls to the floor and no ensuing whistle Monday night.

Oh best believe he complained, too, but kept attacking during a game in which Phoenix found itself on the wrong side of free-throw history.

The Suns attempted just four free throws, the second lowest ever in a game for a franchise that played its inaugural season way back in 1968-69.

So while he chose to keep his comments brief about the free throws after the game, the three-time All-Star still found a way to voice his issues without directly saying the words referees or fouls.

“I have no comment on the situation,” Booker said. “I’ve never been a part of a game like that.”

Recap: 5 takeaways from Phoenix Suns melting down in loss at Miami Heat

Suns coach Monty Williams couldn’t contain his displeasure with the free throw issues that are even more glaring for Phoenix when seeing the Heat finish 22-of-25 at the line.

“When you look at the stat sheet and you look at situations like that and we only end up with four free throws for the game,” Williams said. “I mean, that is hard to swallow. In a physical game like that where everybody is bumping, we only get four free throws. This is becoming really hard to swallow.”

Williams said the Suns (8-5) plan to contact the NBA about the officiating. The team returns home after going 1-3 on their road trip and next will face defending NBA champion Golden State (6-8) Wednesday at Footprint Center.

“It’s just tough to swallow because we’ve had these situations before,” he said. “I’ll do my due diligence and (Suns General Manager James Jones) will call the league and see what we can show them where our guys are getting hit, but just look at the totals. It is what it is – 25 to four. That’s a hard one to swallow.”

The Suns (8-5) only went 8-of-9 from the line in Friday’s loss at Orlando. Phoenix is 28th in the league in free throw attempts per game at 20.4. The Suns have attempted 265 free throws, 56 fewer than their opponents have launched this season (321) in 13 games.

“You feel like you can’t even talk about it because you’re going to get fined, but that's an unreal amount of free throws in any NBA game,” Williams continued.

The Suns had just one free throw attempt in the first half Monday off an illegal defense.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow,” Williams added.

The Magic only went 13-of-15 from the line Friday night. The Suns committed just three more fouls than Orlando (14 to 11).

So those numbers didn’t stick out so much.

Two nights later, different story in Miami.

Not only did the Heat attempt 21 more free throws and outscored the Suns by 20 at the line in a one-point game, but Bam Adebayo went 12-of-14 on free throws.

Booker? Try 1-of-2.

The Suns were called for 22 fouls, with Booker and Deandre Ayton each finishing the game with five fouls.

As a team, Miami was called for 10 fouls.

“All we can do is control what we can control,” said Suns wing Torrey Craig, who attempted Phoenix’s other two free throws (1-of-2). “The refs are going to be refs. It was one of those nights. I feel like we had a lot of guys who played aggressive and get bumped. I know Book got bumped a lot. (Cameron Payne) got bumped a lot off ball, no fouls were being called, but we can’t do nothing about it now.”

Payne had a cut on his eyelid after the game as proof he received some contact during the game.

Booker kept smiling when asked about his frustration and getting knocked to the floor.

“Just got to keep playing till we get the respect,” Booker said. “I don’t know what we can do except keep playing basketball.”

After reaching the 2021 finals and having the league’s best record last season, one would think the Suns have earned that respect.

“You tell me?” Booker asked.

Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.

Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Suns in disbelief after FT disparity in 113-112 loss at Miami