Spurs coach, Mitch Johnson, called for a technical after arguing over a challenge attempt in Game 5 of the Thunder’s loss.
There seemed to be a lot of missed calls during the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Now, the Spurs are sitting on the brink of elimination from the Western Conference finals.
Advertisement
The Spurs’ comeback attempt failed Tuesday night in Game 5 of the series. The Thunder, after taking a 20-point lead early in the third, rallied late to win 127-114 and take a 3-2 series lead.
They are now one win away from earning a return trip to the NBA Finals, where the New York Knicks await after their sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. The Spurs are just 1-13 all-time when trailing 3-2 in a best-of-seven series, too.
But there were two notable instances in the second half when it appeared the officials missed or made the wrong call as Spurs attempted a comeback.
Late in the third quarter, Luke Kornet made a putback bucket at the line. But the Thunder guard, Cason Wallace, managed to get up and swipe the ball away from the rim successfully to prevent two easy points for the Spurs. That sent the game the other way, though Kornet quickly tried to call a review — as it appeared Wallace made contact with the ball when it was already over the basket, a clear goal. But the scoring call was not received, so his two points did not count.
After that, Victor Wembanyama lost control of the ball while driving towards the rim, and the ball ended up coming out of the foot of Thunder star Chet Holmgren. But the officials chose to give the ball to the Thunder instead.
Advertisement
Johnson tried to ask for a review on the sidelines, and apparently made an act of opening a challenge call. But the officials ignored him, and he was hit with a technical foul for breaking out. Even the NBC broadcasters were surprised that Johnson was not given a challenge.
“They just said they didn’t see me,” Johnson said bitterly after the game.
There was also a moment early in the fourth quarter when the officials couldn’t determine who the ball was, and instead opted to call it a jump ball.
Now to be clear, these two calls would not have given the Spurs the win here. San Antonio also fell into a 20-point hole early in the third quarter, and was struggling offensively. Wembanyama shot just 4-of-15 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts, for example, and both De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell were held to single figures.
Advertisement
But it was only a 10-point game when Johnson was hit with a technical, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pushed it to 13 after scoring three straight goals when the call was called. If the Spurs had been given the ball and scored on the inbounds play, it would have been a single digit football game.
Regardless, the Spurs will have to be perfect if they are going to reach their first NBA Finals since 2014. That starts with Game 6 Thursday night at Frost Bank Center.
