Dillon Brooks blasts refs following close Suns-Hawks contest

PHOENIX– No Grayson Allen and no Jalen Green, but an elevated performance from Dillon Brooks? It was still a problem for the Phoenix Suns, who fell to the Atlanta Hawks, 124-122, on Sunday.

While one of the stories was the battle between Suns head coach Jordan Ott and Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, Phoenix’s bread and butter was on display.

The hustle, grit, determination, and tough shotmaking, all courtesy of Brooks. He played 36 minutes and exploded in the third quarter, scoring 16 of the team’s 37 points. The Suns forward finished with 34 points for the game.

Turnaround fadeaways, deep 3-point shots, and easy transition points widened the narrow gap between Phoenix and Atlanta. It sparked exactly what the team needed.

On his 15th and 16th points of the third quarter, he turned to the sideline, dapped up a fan, and hastily went back in transition on defense.

Before that, though, Brooks shot 5-12 and had 14 points. It felt like change flipped in an instant, and perhaps it did.

It doesn’t excuse all behavior, though, such as a Brooks technical foul after Hawks star Zaccharie Risacher went down with an injury. Following that, Atlanta went on an 18-0 run and cut the lead to single digits.

That’s all that was on his mind.

“That should be reviewed, and literally snug the whole play and understand that he’s (Zaccharie Risacher) hurt at the same time, don’t call (it) dead,” Brooks explained outside of the team’s locker room postgame.

“You get the ball out, you’re in transition. You call the play dead, and people are calling it out; you want to call a T and change another thing. That needs to get reviewed, and someone needs to get penalized. S**t, I got penalized for calling them out.”

Jordan Ott senses when Dillon Brooks flips the switch for the Suns

Typically, coaches can sense when a player becomes too aggressive. That’s not the case for Brooks. In fact, it’s quite the opposite for him. Maintaining that assertiveness and aggression from the jump is how the Suns want to be identified with.

Could that technical foul or the Hawks’ increased effort and diligence on the defensive end have been more of a factor? Likely the latter, but the controversial call by the official isn’t ideal either.

It’s something that Ott will need to look at, but he doesn’t want to overanalyze it either.