Thunder fans cry foul after refs deny OKC crucial flagrant call late in Game 3

Late in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder wing Alex Caruso created a fastbreak opportunity with his defensive efforts, picking Tyrese Haliburton's pocket and going the other way for a layup that would've cut his team's deficit to six with under three minutes remaining. But Indiana Pacers swingman Aaron Nesmith abruptly disrupted him as he was mid-air, resulting in an easy foul call for the officials. However, the severity of the infraction (or lack thereof) is under siege.

Nesmith reasonably didn't want to give up a free basket in the closing stages of a tight, pivotal contest, so he wrapped Caruso up — hard. But he may have crossed the fine line between a smart and dirty play, though the officials saw it differently. After a ref-initiated review, crew chief James Capers deemed it a standard shooting foul, not a flagrant.

As you can imagine, the no-call didn't sit right with Thunder fans, especially considering the stakes and timing of the instance. The rest of the basketball world also weighed in on the discussion, sharing the OKC faithful's frustration.

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Thunder fans irate after being denied flagrant foul call in Game 3

Nesmith didn't appear to be going for the ball, instead grabbing a defenseless Caruso from behind as he was airborne. While Indy's sharpshooter was doing what he could to make the latter earn his points from the free throw line, this was dangerous. With that in mind, this user feels a flagrant "[needed] to be called," but it wasn't.

Some people thought Nesmith was playing football, tackling Caruso rather than trying to stop him. If Capers and the zebras saw what they did, OKC would've received two free throws and retained possession. That could've been a massive swing in crunch time of an eight-point game.

Ultimately, the refs decided not to issue a flagrant to Nesmith, declaring "no wind up" that led to Caruso's mean spill. This Thunder supporter found some pretty damning evidence that may suggest otherwise.

Non-Thunder members of NBA X (formerly known as Twitter) seem to be in agreement that Nesmith merely committed a good, hard playoff foul. Well, Bleacher Report's Molly Morrison jokingly implied that the umpires took that into account, checking social media before making an "[official]" ruling.

What is a flagrant foul?

There are two versions of a flagrant foul: A flagrant 1 or a flagrant 2. According to league rules, the criteria for either are met when:

• Flagrant Foul 1 (FF1): "Unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent."
• Flagrant Foul 2 (FF2): "Unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent."

Both flagrants have the same penalties. The team that was fouled gets two foul shots and gets to keep the ball afterward. Yet, if an FF2 is called, the player who committed it is automatically ejected.