Stephon Castle Calls Out Refs After Spurs' Loss to SGA, Thunder in WCF Game 5

The San Antonio Spurs are on the brink of elimination after losing Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, and Stephon Castle believes the Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten some help from the officials so far.

Castle said after the loss that the Thunder are able to play more physical 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 told reporters. "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."

The Thunder's physical defense is especially on display when they are guarding star center Victor Wembanyama. While Wembanyama towers over everybody else on the court, putting a strong defender like Isaiah Hartenstein on him proved to be a recipe for success.

Oklahoma City did that well in Game 2 when it held Wembanyama to just 21 points. The Thunder did it even better on Tuesday, allowing Wembanyama to hit just four field goals.

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."

Whether the Thunder truly get away with more on defense is sure to be a debate, but they did get the more favorable whistle on Tuesday. Oklahoma City shot 38 free throws compared to 32 from the Spurs. MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got half of his points at the line, hitting 16 free throws.

Spurs-Thunder Highlights

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The Spurs will have to match the Thunder's physicality to avoid its season ending in Game 6 on Thursday.