I don't disagree at all that OKC gets phantom calls for flopping and exaggerated responses to incidental contact.

But no, LA isn't "justified", when their entire franchise is built around the guy to took the entire league to the soccer levels of whistle baiting. The fact that OKC is going to sweep them by doing it TO the lakers is poetic.

Wemby is a thug!

k20dub said:

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Wemby is a thug!

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Latest in a long line of San Antonio's dirty players.

Robinson
Duncan
now this jerk

Harper was shook.

DYLAN HARPER WAS ABSOLUTELY SHOCKEDpic.twitter.com/xCz2QWc9iE

— Spurs Lead (@SpursLead) May 11, 2026

CharleyKerfeld said:

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If the Spurs could run a backcourt trap for the entire game, I think they might beat Minnesota 150-0. The T-Wolves looked like a junior high team trying to get the ball across midcourt in the last minute.

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To be fair, the Spurs could have been called for 32 fouls on those backcourt traps. In the regular season and even the first 46 minutes of the game, those are fouls and free throws. But the nba loves post season drama.

superaggie73 said:

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CharleyKerfeld said:

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If the Spurs could run a backcourt trap for the entire game, I think they might beat Minnesota 150-0. The T-Wolves looked like a junior high team trying to get the ball across midcourt in the last minute.

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To be fair, the Spurs could have been called for 32 fouls on those backcourt traps. In the regular season and even the first 46 minutes of the game, those are fouls and free throws. But the nba loves post season drama.

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I'm not going to sit here on the Rockets' thread and let you insult the good name of the San Antonio Spurs, who have never done anything wrong and whose franchise was born 10 minutes after Jesus was in Bethlehem. Don't you know how biased toward the Timberwolves the NBA is? They're slaves to that big Minnesota TV market that they command as the 46th largest city in the US - that's the 24th biggest market in the NBA! And of course, they're obsessed with Minnesota's long-running championship pedigree - They've almost been in the Finals 3 times! I mean not really, they got smoked in all 3 of those series, but clearly they've got a lot more juice with the league than the poor little spurs.

Glad to see a Houston hero Harden still flopping in 2026

Matt_ag98 said:

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Glad to see a Houston hero Harden still flopping in 2026

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and dribbling out the shot clock for a low percentage fade away 3

I swear watching Harden in games like this and the things he did in Houston, it looks so much like he's on the take. Cleveland was up big until Harden starts jacking up 3's and missing badly and doing the worst defensive job possible on Brunson.

What's the record for fewest rebounds by a 7 foot 5 player in a conference finals game?

Just 2 more playoff games (not series) for The Beard and he will be #1 all time leader in playoff games without a championship.

FrioAg 00 said:

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Let's see,

Game 1 - SA +10 FTs, SA wins by 7

Game 2 - OKC +7 FTs, OKC wins by 9

Game 3 - FT even, OKC wins by 15

Game 4 - SA +14 FTs, SA wins by 21

Game 5 - FT currently even, OKC up by 8


It's pretty rich to hear SA fans whining about FTs when they have a +17 advantage in the series, and it's likely the only reason they didn't lose in 5 games

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I beg to differ. OKC fouls every damn play and refs only call a minimal percentage of their fouls. Don't get me wrong, I hate SA, but OkC is treated completely different than every other team in the league by the refs. Just look at tonight, SA getting screwed left and right.

Can anyone answer my question of why the refs would treat OKC preferentially ? Is it that big Oklahoma TV market? Their long-standing tradition of NBA greatness?

FrioAg 00 said:

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Let's see,

Game 1 - SA +10 FTs, SA wins by 7

Game 2 - OKC +7 FTs, OKC wins by 9

Game 3 - FT even, OKC wins by 15

Game 4 - SA +14 FTs, SA wins by 21

Game 5 - FT currently even, OKC up by 8


It's pretty rich to hear SA fans whining about FTs when they have a +17 advantage in the series, and it's likely the only reason they didn't lose in 5 games

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I know you aren't dumb enough to think that FTA is the only way refs influence a game.

I’ve played, coached, reffed & covered basketball for 30+ years. I’m also NOT a Spurs fan. What OKC has done — building half their strategy to manipulate the refs on every possession — is a disgrace to the game and awful to watch. This is Harden on steroids. Fans deserve better. https://t.co/4cNjdtFVWO

— Chris Dell 🧪 (@MaddJournalist) May 27, 2026

OKC plays way more physical on defense and gets away with way more.

But then things like this have been called when Fox goes out of his way to not touch him.

Ruining the game pic.twitter.com/jgXrnDzIHd

— IG: @docqtor (@DocQtorr) May 25, 2026

This flop was called a foul on Barnes, which wiped off a 3pter. No FTs involved.

this is just SHAMELESS 😭 pic.twitter.com/yoQwUVj9ht

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) May 21, 2026

Actual official explaining why the play above that wont show up should have been an offensive foul on OKC. But n call.

Kurtis, IMO this should have been called an offensive foul on Wallace. He launches at an abnormal angle to seek out contact with Wemby that otherwise would not have occurred, and he causes lower body contact to Wemby that knocks him to the floor, and takes him out of the play. If…

— Chip Clark (@OfficialChipC) May 23, 2026

No foul here at all, but they call it on Castle. Castle had to be pulled from the game due to foul trouble because of phantom fouls like this due to SGA's flopping.

What are we doing here?
Fix this sport. pic.twitter.com/3OBf0Ihkqa

— Justin Wills (@itsjwills) May 27, 2026

Elbow to the throat is Flagrant, innit?

Jared McCain elbowed Dylan Harper in the throat, backed it up on him and fell down 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/P8JsvftRHl

— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 27, 2026

The refs really claimed they couldn't tell who this was off of and ruled it a jump ball...???

NBA what are we doing?? https://t.co/9BpUPFroX2

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 27, 2026

These aren't Spurs fans complaining:

We cannot overstate how bad this is for the game of basketball. https://t.co/CLigoTVrp0

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) May 27, 2026

From the last Tony Brothers game, Hartenstein was allowed to just yank Castle by the hair WHILE THE REF WAS WATCHING. No call no FTs.

Hartenstein just YANKED Stephon Castle’s dreads 😭😭😭

THIS MAN IS PLAYING DIRTY 💀 pic.twitter.com/gVC14EIcNR

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) May 21, 2026

I don't expect the refs to get everything right, and I don't think they are calling things the way they are because of some grand conspiracy. But the way they have officiated both teams is not the same, and that is primarily because OKC spends their time gaming the system and going with the "we can hack and be as physical as we want because they wont call a foul every time and even if they did, we have the most depth in the league." And they are right.

The Spurs big problem last night was they were not aggressive, especially Wemby and Fox. When you are aggressive, you tend to get the calls more on your side, and that is what we saw in game 4 vs game 5 if you actually watched it rather than just looking at a box score. When the Spurs attack the basket relentlessly like they did in game 4, they get the benefit on more calls, but in game 5, they were completely passive, especially Victor. Can't play that way and expect to win. But that is never going to show up in the box score.

Almost all of those are awful calls, no doubt.

They are also cherry picked, out of the hundreds of total calls. You're missing the cherry picked ones that favor SA.

If you're making an argument about the total NBA product evolving to this soccer style game where whistle baiting is WAY to prevalent, I couldn't agree more.

So let's go back and pull back a few rings from folks like Tony Parker and Ginobili who played big roles in this evolution of flopping.

Neither one did anything remotely close to what we have seen in this series and that also isn't why the Spurs won those titles and you know that. But nice Strawman. Care to have an honest conversation now?

Your FTA stats are also cherry picked and do not actually show the reality of the series. And I did a very brief overview with a major swinging series of calls/no calls in game 5. It is relevant.

I'm not making an argument about the NBA evolving, but rather I am pointing out how FTA does not tell the story of the series and that is obvious if you actually watched it all.

The majority of calls the refs do get correct. But the refs can also drastically swing momentum with huge point changes with things like we saw when they miss a goal tend (2pt), then make the wrong call (turnover, potentially 2-3 points) then give a technical to a coach that was calling for a review (1 point), then give SGA two FTs on a possession that OKC shouldn't have had (2 points for OKC, but a Spurs make would have been potentially 2-3 point for the Spurs). That is a definite 5 point swing and potentially an 8-11 point swing in a 10-point game. That's a massive swing because the refs screwed up multiple things that all went against the Spurs when the Spurs were making a push. And the refs unquestionably screwed all of that up. You don't even question that. All of that happened within 40 seconds to close out the quarter. As you know, basketball is a game of runs and the Spurs had just made two threes (one +1) and were on a run. But that type of referee takeover is deflating.

You were the one that brought up the refs, so if you want to have an honest conversation of how they have impacted games, here it is.

Guitarsoup said:

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Neither one did anything remotely close to what we have seen in this series and that also isn't why the Spurs won those titles and you know that. But nice Strawman. Care to have an honest conversation now?

Your FTA stats are also cherry picked and do not actually show the reality of the series. And I did a very brief overview with a major swinging series of calls/no calls in game 5. It is relevant.

I'm not making an argument about the NBA evolving, but rather I am pointing out how FTA does not tell the story of the series and that is obvious if you actually watched it all.

The majority of calls the refs do get correct. But the refs can also drastically swing momentum with huge point changes with things like we saw when they miss a goal tend (2pt), then make the wrong call (turnover, potentially 2-3 points) then give a technical to a coach that was calling for a review (1 point), then give SGA two FTs on a possession that OKC shouldn't have had (2 points for OKC, but a Spurs make would have been potentially 2-3 point for the Spurs). That is a definite 5 point swing and potentially an 8-11 point swing in a 10-point game. That's a massive swing because the refs screwed up multiple things that all went against the Spurs when the Spurs were making a push. And the refs unquestionably screwed all of that up. You don't even question that. All of that happened within 40 seconds to close out the quarter. As you know, basketball is a game of runs and the Spurs had just made two threes (one +1) and were on a run. But that type of referee takeover is deflating.

You were the one that brought up the refs, so if you want to have an honest conversation of how they have impacted games, here it is.

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I hate the Spurs with a passion and almost next to never agree with Guitarsoup, but he is 100% spot on here.

That's how bad the officiating and OKC flopping is…has me openly rooting for the Spurs. F U OKC for making me do that.