Suns' Williams: Lack of free-throw calls in loss to Bucks 'ridiculous'

Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams didn't mince words when assessing the disparity in free throws during his side's 116-104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Suns made 16 trips to the charity stripe compared to the Bucks' 37. Milwaukee superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 free-throw attempts of his own. Josh Okogie led Phoenix with eight, while All-Star guard Devin Booker only had three.

"It is not fair," Williams said, according to The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin. "Book has three free throws - and Jrue Holiday is one of the most physical defenders in the game. … Giannis has 24 free throws. It's ridiculous. There's no other way to put it."

Williams said that center Deandre Ayton is unable to defend properly because of how often Antetokounmpo drives into the paint.

"We've dealt with this so many times with this team - and credit to (Antetokounmpo), he saw the way the game was being called, he kept doing it," Williams added.

When the Suns and Bucks faced off in the 2021 NBA Finals, Antetokounmpo attempted 85 free throws across six games, while Booker went to the charity stripe just 32 times.

"This has happened a number of times when we played them," Williams said. "It's hard to tell our guys to keep their level of poise because that's frustrating. They beat us, make no mistake about it, but that's a hard one to swallow."