San Antonio Spurs center Mason Plumlee’s hard foul on Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals was upgraded to a Flagrant 1 by the NBA on Wednesday.
Late in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City’s 127-114 win over San Antonio on Tuesday night, Plumlee’s elbow hit McCain’s back as the two collided. It was ruled a common foul at the time.
McCain discussed the incident after the contest.
“That was crazy. I didn’t expect it, obviously,” McCain said in his postgame interview. “We were at the free-throw line, too, and I was like, ‘Why’d you do that man?’ I’m just asking him questions, and he was like, ‘I’ve got another one for you, too.’ … It’s all in competition, so gotta respect it.”
The 22-year-old received his first start of the series for the Thunder in Game 5 and scored 20 points while shooting 7-of-19 from the field. McCain also grabbed three rebounds.
Plumlee, who is currently out of the Spurs’ rotation, only played two minutes as the game came to a close.
As for McCain, he’s developed into a key piece of Oklahoma City’s rotation after the team acquired him in a Feb. 4 trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
He averaged 10.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game on 46.2/39.1/85.3 shooting splits following the swap before continuing to excel in the playoffs, recording 9.6 points in 16.0 minutes per game while shooting 36.7 percent from three-point territory during the postseason.
With Tuesday’s win, the Thunder took a 3-2 series lead over the Spurs and are now on the verge of advancing to the NBA Finals as they attempt to capture a second consecutive championship.
