NBA lists two missed calls that went against Spurs in Game 5
The Spurs are never going to make excuses, but calls haven't exactly been going their way late in games.
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The San Antonio Spurs are not going to make excuses, and maybe it wouldn't have made a difference anyway, but on Wednesday the NBA released in its Last Two Minute report that Kawhi Leonard did indeed foul Russell Westbrook, who should've gone to the line for a pair of free throws in the closing seconds. As we know by now, the foul was not called and Westbrook continued the play and wound up with an And-1 at the rim which gave the Thunder a four-point lead and effectively iced the game.
You'll remember, another officiating mishap -- this one far more egregious -- went against the Spurs in Game 2, after which the NBA actually noted several missed calls.
As expected, the Game 5 report validates what we all saw, that officials missed Kawhi Leonard fouling Russell Westbrook in the closing seconds of the game. "Leonard (SAS) commits a take foul on Westbrook (OKC)," is how the NBA described the play in the report.
Check out the play here:
"He fouled him," Popovich said. "It was pretty obvious he fouled him, but every call doesn't get called. That's the way the game is. I was more concerned about the play before that with Durant's shot. But as I've said, sometimes you get a call. Sometimes not. It happens to everybody. Tough game."
"I definitely fouled him," Leonard said. "But the referee, I guess he didn't see it. You just got to keep playing through it."
Westbrook even commented about the play, noting that he isn't going to stop playing just because he got hit. "I just play until I hear the whistle, throughout the whole game. My job is to play. The refs will call the game. My job is to play until I hear the whistle."
While this non-call was important, perhaps the bigger incorrect call was when Danny Green was whistled for a foul on Kevin Durant with 54.7 left in the game. On the replay, it looked like Steven Adams, while setting a screen, tripped Green, which knocked him into Durant. The NBA admits that this was the case in the report: "Adams (OKC) extends his leg into Green's (SAS) path, causing him to trip and fall into Durant (OKC)."
"I tried to chase KD around the screen, and my leg came out from under me, and I'm pretty sure it was his foot," Green said. "I don't know if it was intentional or not, but the reason that I fouled Durant was because of the domino effect of being tripped."
Unfortunately for the Spurs, there is nothing they can do with the report's findings. They can't get those final possessions back and now face possible elimination in Game 6 at Oklahoma City on Thursday.
