As the San Antonio Spurs fell short against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Stephon Castle voiced out his frustration from the officials.
In a post game interview, Castle said that the Thunder were able to play more physically than the Spurs.
“Trying to play through it is tough. I just think the way they guard, how physical they are, we don’t get that same luxury to be able to play as physical on the other end at times,” Castle said.
When it comes to their offense, the Spurs guard just emphasized about missing open shots.
“Offensively, I think we do a good job of screening and playing through it. I think we create a lot of advantages, but I think we missed a lot of open shots tonight.”
Oklahoma City’s physical defense is hardly felt as Victor Wembanyama was limited to 20 points.
The Spurs were able to match the Thunder’s physicality in Game 4, and it led to a lopsided victory for San Antonio.
Devin Vassell spoke to that physicality after the win, adding that he thinks OKC gets “away with a lot.”
“I think they’re super physical; they get away with a lot, we try to use that against them, too,” Vassell said on Sunday. “We’re trying to be ultra physical.”
Meanwhile in Game 5, there were instances occurred when Spurs’ Luke Kornet with about 56 seconds left was knocked off the rim by Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace and should have been goaltending.
Followed by next Spurs’ possession, an out-of-bounds call that should have gone their way and replays showed the ball went out of Holmgren did not.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson tried to challenge the call, but got a technical foul for arguing.
