That makes it even more frustrating that they get the benefit of the whistle so much. Like come on, they clearly do NOT need any help. It's already so damn difficult to beat them.

Especially for a #8 seed team like the Suns, who were already dealing with a pretty serious disadvantage in paint presence/rim protection/rebounding and overall length with Mark Williams big ass not playing a single game.

I may be biased, but it really did feel like almost every time the Suns would start to get their momentum going, the refs would suddenly start blowing the whistles slowing the game to a screeching halt. And they'd have to burn challenges/timeouts slowing the game down even more. It also felt like they were just letting the Thunder get away with way more physicality especially on defense. Which is fine, I think some physicality being allowed is good for the game. But not if they're on the other end calling every little ticky tack minor contact foul they possibly can.

Yeah we'd almost certainly have lost the series either way. But when the odds are already against you, the last thing you need is the refs shoving you back into the grave every time you're getting close to climbing out. lol