Alex Caruso Draws Backlash After Hard Foul on Stephon Castle in Game 7

The Western Conference Finals reached the ultimate situation in sports: a Game 7 to decide the winner of the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder series.

After an epic double-overtime clash in Game 1, OKC won two straight to regain the series. Since then, it’s gone back and forth between these two rival squads, with blowouts at both teams’ home venues.

That meant a fierce battle was on the way to determine which of these teams would face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, and in the first half, the Spurs came out hot.

Tempers almost flared at one moment, as Stephon Castle had a fast break opportunity. OKC’s Alex Caruso was chasing him down and delivered a hard foul to prevent the hoop.

More news: Knicks’ Josh Hart Sends Cryptic Message Ahead of Spurs-Thunder Game 7

It also brought Castle down to the court, and the Spurs star immediately seemed upset over what occurred. His teammate Dylan Harper quickly got on the court behind him and sat with him, hugging him from behind to prevent Castle from exploding at the refs or opposing players.

The referees huddled to review the play, but determined it was a common foul on Caruso. However, once video clips began circulating on social media, fans reacted strongly to what transpired.

“Caruso literally dragged Castle to the floor while he was in the air and they didn’t call flagrant,” someone commented.

“3rd time this series and 2nd time it was Caruso. Should have been a flagrant both times and wasn’t either,” another commenter said.

“Threw him down not making a play on the ball… Can somebody explain HOW this wasn’t a flagrant ?” someone commented on a different X post.

Others commented, “Winds up, hits arm, and pulls him down. How is that not even a flagrant 1????” and “how this isn’t a flagrant is pretty funny to me.”

After the refs reviewed the play, they awarded Castle two free throws for Caruso’s hard foul in Game 7.

Earlier in the series, tempers flared when Castle got taken down on several fastbreak plays. On one of them, he popped up looking ready to fight, but nearby arena security came over from courtside to help try to restrain him.

At halftime, the San Antonio Spurs held a 56-53 lead in what looked to be an exciting fight to the finish to determine which team would go to the NBA Finals.

More news: Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving Gets Honest on Seeing Knicks Reach NBA Finals

For more about the NBA, head over to Newsweek Sports.