Fans engaged in a debate after the refs slapped a controversial flagrant foul on Kevin Durant. The Phoenix Suns hosted the desperate Atlanta Hawks in a Thursday night encounter at Footprint Center. The Suns came back stronger in the second half to counter the Hawks’ initial lead but didn’t look like shutting down the visitors, as they continued to challenge them.

In the fourth quarter, Durant guarded Hawks’ Dejounte Murray in front of the arc and ended up in his landing space after Murray shot the ball. The refs reviewed the play and called a flagrant foul on the superstar and offered three free throws to Murray. Following that call, the NBA world turned into a debate ground on the internet. Here are some reactions from fans.

A fan even took an extreme call to even ban Durant from the league.

A particular section of fans agreed with the ref’s decision and expressed it with “agreed” in the comments.

Another defended KD and blamed the Hawks star for jumping way ahead.

Another fan sided with the 2x NBA champion and argued that KD couldn’t have done anything more with that play.

It’s a given rule in the NBA to call a flagrant foul if a defender ends up in the landing space of the shooter. However, on this occasion, it turned out controversial for a particular reason. Hawks Dejounte Murray poked his foot in front way farther than how he usually jumps. To be precise, Kevin Durant didn’t have enough time to move out of his way, despite having a safe distance from the shooter.

In the three given FTs, Murray could drop only two and brought down the lead to 9 points. Eventually, he set up the stage for a possible win. However, that wasn’t the case.

Kevin Durant & Co survive, despite Hawks’ steady fight

The Hawks are currently in the 10th seed of the Eastern Conference with a 30-39 record. Even though they are in a comfortable spot to contest in the Play-in tournament, they are in dire need of securing maximum wins before the postseason.

The Trae Young-less Hawks started off the game with a bang, dropping 37 points in the first quarter. While it looked like the visitors would shock the Suns with their outburst, the Suns counter-attacked in the second half. Devin Booker led from the front, dropping 30 points, and he was supported by KD and Grayson Allen with 32 points together to clinch a 128-115 win.

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What do you make of the controversial flagrant foul? Let us know in the comments.

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