NBA Admits Costly Blown Call Against Spurs' Stephon Castle in Late Fourth Quarter of Finals Game 4 Loss

The NBA admitted that Stephon Castle did not step out of bounds late in the fourth quarter of the Spurs’ Game 4 loss to the Knicks. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The NBA admitted a potentially game-changing officiating mistake in the Knicks’ 107-106 Game 4 win over the Spurs—but no, it doesn’t have to do with OG Anunoby’s clutch block on De’Aaron Fox.

Instead, it was a Spurs’ offensive play that took place with roughly a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. Knicks’ Jalen Brunson had just made a jumper to give New York its first lead of the game, 105-104. On San Antonio’s ensuing possession, Stephon Castle drove toward the rim while being closely guarded by Josh Hart, and the referees deemed Castle stepped out of bounds on the baseline.

In the NBA’s last two-minute report released on Thursday, the league admitted that the refs made the wrong call.

“Hart (NYK) impedes Castle (SAS) on his drive as Castle is incorrectly called for committing an out-of-bounds violation,” the report read.

Not only did Castle not step out of bounds, but he was also fouled by Hart on the play, per the report. Hart was being very aggressive in defending Castle and apparently made illegal contact prior to Castle’s attempted shot. Since the Spurs were in the bonus, Castle would have received two free throw attempts with a chance for San Antonio to take the lead with 1:02 remaining.

Here’s a video of Castle toeing the line on the blown call, along with Hart’s suffocating defense:

This won't make Spurs fans feel any better but that Castle baseline drive that was ruled out of bounds and a key turnover? He never stepped out of bounds 😬 pic.twitter.com/I8iZXmqZT6

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) June 11, 2026

NBA two-minute report reveals officials made two errors late in Knicks’ win over Spurs in Game 4 of NBA Finals

The two-minute report also uncovered another officiating mistake earlier in the fourth: Victor Wembanyama should have been called for a defensive 3-second violation with roughly a minute and a half left in the game. All the other calls and non-calls from the final two minutes were determined to be correct.

For Spurs fans specifically wondering about Anunoby’s late contested block on Fox, here’s what it said in the report:

“Anunoby (NYK) makes a legal attempt to block Fox's (SAS) shot and dislodges the ball from his control before making incidental arm contact.”

NBA's Last 2 Minute report rules OG Anunoby's block on De'Aaron Fox a Correct No Call.

"Anunoby makes a legal attempt to block Fox's shot and dislodges the ball from his control before making incidental arm contact."pic.twitter.com/yphJ41XOdt

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) June 11, 2026

The NBA’s admission of error comes on the heels of another key officiating mistake in Game 3, when the league’s head of officiating Monty McCutchen acknowledged that Victor Wembanyama should have been called for a common foul on his shove of Jalen Brunson. No retroactive flagrant foul was assessed to Wembanyama, who has so far accumulated three penalty points this postseason. One more flagrant foul would automatically suspend him for a game, per the NBA’s playoff rules.

The officiating has been under much more scrutiny in the NBA Finals, partly because each Knicks-Spurs matchup has been so close (Game 1: Knicks win 105-95. Game 2: Knicks win 105-104. Game 3: Spurs win 115-111. Game 4: Knicks win 107-106.) Game 5 is set for Saturday night in San Antonio, where the Knicks will hope to clinch their first title since 1973 in a hopefully fair and well-officiated contest.

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