The San Antonio Spurs will feel this Game 5 loss linger in their heads. It may not be for any basketball reason. Sadly, another spectacle between the Western Conference’s top two teams was marred by inconsistent officiating. At times, it was ugly even to watch. The Thunder got a lot of calls in their favor for just falling. That wasn’t the most bizarre scene from the night. That happened right when the Spurs were mounting a comeback in the third quarter, and the refs refused to listen to Mitch Johnson’s challenge.

The officials initially ruled the ball out of bounds on Victor Wembanyama. The following replay clearly showed the ball bouncing off Chet Holmgren’s foot. The referees waited, by which time Johnson clearly signaled – wanting to challenge the play. The San Antonio bench was practically celebrating getting the ball back. But as Johnson waved his fingers – gesturing to review the play, their faces turned white.

Their pleas were ignored. OKC got the ball in bounds, without the sideline referee ever relaying the request for a challenge. Mitch Johnson was beside himself, screaming at the referee. It was clearly San Antonio ball, with a chance to make it a single-digit deficit. There was never an explanation for why the challenge wasn’t accepted. Instead, Mitch Johnson got hit with a technical foul for his reaction.

The moment stung beyond the immediate free throws it cost the Spurs. At the time of the missed challenge, San Antonio had just cut the Thunder’s lead to 10. Wembanyama had gone 3-of-9 from the field but still contributed 16 points, saved almost entirely by going 10-for-10 at the foul line. Had the challenge been accepted and rightfully overturned, it would have given the Spurs a possession with a chance to make the game a one-score affair in the closing minutes of the third. Instead, the sequence swung the momentum irreversibly in OKC’s direction.

He didn’t make any mistakes, though. Even the announcer hinted at Johnson’s finger-wagging during the live action. But the referee right beside Mitch Johnson, hearing his words clearly, never said anything. OKC, knowing what transpired on the play, pushed to get the ball inbounds quickly so the Spurs couldn’t challenge the call any further. That was that. What was supposed to be the Spurs’ opportunity to pressure the Thunder turned into free throws for the Thunder.

The free-throw numbers in Game 5 told their own story. SGA, who led the entire league this season with 7.9 made free throw attempts per game, shot 16-of-17 from the line, generating more than half of his 32 points from the charity stripe.

The Thunder collectively went to the line far more aggressively than the Spurs, a pattern that has frustrated San Antonio throughout this series. In the two OKC wins in this WCF (Games 2 and 3), the Thunder held significant free-throw advantages, while in the two Spurs wins (Games 1 and 4), San Antonio controlled the line.

Wembanyama’s restricted approach to the basket in Game 5 is worth noting. The 7-foot-4 French star, who had erupted for 41 points in Game 1 and 33 points in Game 4 – both Spurs wins managed just four field goals from 15 attempts on Tuesday.

Spurs fans and analysts have pointed out that OKC’s physical defense around the paint, documented as early as Game 2, when the Thunder strategically decided to “rough him up,” according to Chris Mannix, without drawing consistent whistles, has largely gone unchecked.

The NBA community can’t comprehend the referees

One call wouldn’t haunt the San Antonio Spurs. Game 5 had several contentious moments. Luke Kornet had his shot erased by Cason Wallace on a clear goaltend. Thunder players got the whistle blown their way for just tripping. Jared McCain elbowed Dylan Harper and proceeded to fall a few seconds later. OKC got the ball. “Will not watch an OKC/NY Finals. League has continuously gotten worse, but this OKC nonsense is an insult to everyone’s intelligence,” one fan wrote.

This, however, is not a new phenomenon with the Oklahoma City Thunder- it is a pattern that has persisted throughout the 2026 playoffs.

In Round 1 against the Phoenix Suns, Alex Caruso appeared to directly instruct a referee to call a technical foul on Devin Booker and the referee obliged. Booker, who was falling out of bounds after being fouled by Jaylin Williams, threw the ball back in bounds and inadvertently hit Williams in the face. Caruso lobbied immediately, the tech was called, and Booker was left stunned.

The technical was later rescinded by the league, but not before it swung momentum in a game the Suns were trying to claw back into.

Booker, who said in 11 years he had never called out a referee by name, broke that rule publicly:

“I heard Caruso tell them to call the tech, and he ended up doing it. James Williams was terrible tonight, through and through. It’s bad for the sport.”

The NBA fined him $35,000 for those comments- then quietly acknowledged the technical foul had been improperly assessed.

The league found “no basis to any claim of bias or misconduct,” but the precedent was striking: the player who said the right thing got fined; the officials faced no sanction.

Regarding Johnson’s attempt to challenge the play, fans couldn’t understand how the referees missed his gesture. “RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS F—–G FACE BRO HOW BLIND ARE THEY,” an equally angered fan wrote.

It’s the fact that the Thunder are regularly in the spotlight with refereeing controversies. Fans are starting to feel there’s a clear agenda among officials to favor the defending champions.

“Most unethical hoops in the history of this sport,” one fan added gasoline to the fire.

It didn’t stop there. In a late-March regular season game, Knicks head coach Mike Brown, after his team absorbed a 38-17 free-throw deficit against OKC, went public:

“They do a fantastic job, starting with SGA, of getting the officials to believe a foul has occurred. Their gamesmanship is off the charts. Shai’s the best at it in the league.”

Brown was critical of officials spending energy on a game OKC led comfortably, framing the Thunder’s approach as systematic rather than incidental.

There is also a broader institutional dimension that adds fuel to the fire. Eric Lewis, an experienced NBA referee, retired in 2023 after social media users believed they had uncovered a burner account in which he defended his own officiating and claimed no bias toward the Boston Celtics in a game widely criticized for missed calls that benefited those same Celtics.

Lewis was later reinstated as a G-League referee in late 2025. Whether or not his situation involved any wrongdoing, it has permanently colored public trust in the league’s ability to investigate and sanction its own officials.

Some fans are willing to take an extreme route to make Adam Silver understand the gravity of these refereeing lapses. “The one thing that will help the NBA listen is to have freakin low views in the finals if OKC wins,” one fan said.

Boycotting the NBA Finals wouldn’t reverse these calls. Attention needs to be paid to such decisions because they disrupt the game’s momentum.

The Spurs strongly felt they could have fought back had they rightfully gotten the ball. But that hope escaped once OKC got free throws for Mitch Johnson’s technical foul.

“Shai-mless league. That’s why I didn’t watch it today. I already know it will be disgustingly rigged!” another fan mentioned. The game itself didn’t disappoint. It would be fair to say the Thunder outperformed the Spurs.

They shot the ball better and made their possessions count. However, fans can’t enjoy this series fully due to unnecessary stoppages and dodgy calls. The referees need to do better. And it doesn’t get worse than what happened against the Spurs today.