Peter Okereke
As the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs continue their Western Conference Finals showdown, complaints about the officiating are only getting louder.
Friday night’s Game 3, which Oklahoma City eventually won 123-108 to reclaim home-court advantage, brought intensified criticism from several sports personalities.
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was among those who took issue with the officiating during the matchup. He called out the referees in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
*Refs doin too much,” Lillard wrote on his page after the game.
Game 3 featured 53 combined fouls, with the Thunder called for 28 and San Antonio whistled for 25. That followed a Game 2 matchup in which both teams committed 21 fouls each.
Questions about officiating have continued throughout the series, including criticism after Game 2 when Oklahoma City center Isaiah Hartenstein was not penalized for pulling Stephon Castle’s hair during a sequence that drew widespread attention.
The Thunder overcame an early 15-0 deficit to reclaim home-court advantage and take a 2-1 series lead. The Spurs’ opening run was the longest to begin a conference finals game since play-by-play tracking started in 1997.
San Antonio guard De’Aaron Fox, returning from a sprained right ankle, helped kick-start the run with an opening layup before Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell connected from 3-point range.
But Oklahoma City responded behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 26 points and 12 assists despite not scoring in the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander also went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line as the Thunder barely won the free-throw battle, continuing a trend in the series where the team that performs better at the line wins the game.
