Getty
Mitch Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Three of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center on May 22, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are currently in the Western Conference Finals series that continuously comes up with different ways to stir the debate.
One of the instances of such moments happened in Game 5, very late in the third quarter, and it was not about a basket.
As the Spurs were behind and struggling to keep in the game, Chet Holmgren stepped on the ball as it was going out of bounds. The referees completely missed and ignored the violation, allowing play to continue.
Mitch Johnson instantly made an attempt to challenge the decision, standing very close to an official, but the refs never gave him any attention.
GettyHead coach Mitch Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs speaks
Johnson did not hold back when asked about it after the game, he said: “They just said they didn’t see me.”
NBA analyst Nate Duncan, via @NateDuncanNBA on X, offered a counter view. He posted: “The referees were correct in denying Mitch Johnson that challenge. The rule is very specific: he needs to first call timeout, then challenge. He never signaled for the timeout before signaling for the challenge.”
So there are two things going on. Either Johnson never completed the proper sequence by calling the timeout first, or the officials simply never looked his way to begin with.
Johnson’s own words point to the latter. For a coach managing a hostile crowd at Paycom Center while his team is down big, not even getting a glance from an official is a tough pill to swallow.
GettyHead coach Mitch Johnson of the San Antonio Spurs speaks
Once the challenge was turned down, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander committed a foul on a drive at the other end. Johnson totally lost his temper and as a result, he was given a technical foul.
Being the third quarter, the Thunder had already increased their lead to 20. The Spurs could not afford to let anything slip, and a technical only made the situation worse for them.
Julian Champagnie led San Antonio with 22 points, Victor Wembanyama finished with 16 on 3-of-9 from the field, getting most of his points at the free throw line. Spurs managed to cut the deficit to 10 by the fourth, but couldn’t keep up the momentum.
The final score was 127-114, giving Oklahoma City a 3-2 lead in the series. San Antonio returns home for Game 6, needing a win to stay alive in the series.
A storyline leading up to the next game will probably involve Johnson deciding if he will receive any information from the league about what the officials saw or did not see.
Jayesh Pagar Jayesh Pagar is a writer at Heavy Sports, covering the New York Knicks and other NBA teams. He brings four years of experience across digital sports media, including NBA, WNBA, college basketball, and college football. He covered as the Knicks beat writer for ONSI and has written for PFSN, Sporting News, and ClutchPoints. More about Jayesh Pagar
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