Playoff basketball is very intense. At times, tempers can flare due to the high stakes, as they did during Friday night's Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio's Stephon Castle was on a fast break and looking to score a layup to bring his team within single digits of the Thunder. However, OKC's Ajay Mitchell delivered a hard foul with a bit of extra emphasis, shoving Castle in the back while he was in the air.
The play immediately sparked a confrontation, with Spurs guard Devin Vassell rushing over to defend his teammate as players from both sides gathered near the baseline. Officials stepped in quickly to prevent the situation from escalating further during the heated Game 3 atmosphere in San Antonio.,
Here's everything to know about the scuffle in San Antonio on Friday night, and what happened to Castle, Mitchell and Vassell.
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Stephon Castle-Ajay Mitchell dustup, explained:
Just under four minutes into the third quarter of Friday's Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, things began to get chippy between the Spurs and Thunder. After Vassell led Castle on a breakaway en route to what looked like an easy layup, OKC's Mitchell gave Castle a slight shove in the back while he was going up to score.
Here is a clip of the play.
Ajay Mitchell was assessed a Flagrant 1 on the play.
Devin Vassell and Mitchell also received technical fouls after exchanging words and getting into a brief shoving match.
Unethical Basketball on that foul pic.twitter.com/k1rJZzk0kC
Three total fouls were dished out to the players involved, including Mitchell being assigned two separate fouls.
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What fouls were assessed after Stephon Castle-Ajay Mitchell dustup
A Flagrant 1 foul was assessed to Mitchell for pushing Castle in the back while he was airborne on the layup.
In addition, both Vassell and Mitchell received technical fouls for their altercation after Castle was knocked to the floor. No punches were thrown during the incident; the two briefly shoved each other while exchanging words but did not escalate the situation.
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