Spurs forward Devin Vassell defended his decision to get in the face of the Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell early in the second half of Friday’s 123-108 loss in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

Vassell confronted Mitchell after the forward fouled Stephon Castle on a dunk attempt, sending the Spurs guard sprawling onto the court. The play resulted in a Flagrant 1 foul and technical fouls on Mitchell and Vassell for their heated exchange of words after the play.

“Just having my teammate’s back,” Vassell said of coming to Castle’s aid while a Spurs security staffer wrapped up Castle.

“That’s my brother,” Vassell added, referring to Castle. 

Vassell pointed out Castle had been fouled on another dunk attempt about 40 seconds earlier by Alex Caruso, which also resulted in Castle falling to the court.

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“The first (foul), it’s a basketball play,” Vassell said. “You try to make a play. But two times in a row. He’s about to go up for a dunk and it just looked like he (Mitchell) pushed him. That could be a dangerous play, so I just want to have my teammate’s back.”

Castle said Vassell rushing to confront Mitchell reflects how close the Spurs are as a team.

“It’s in our nature to just stand up for each other,” the 2025 Rookie of the Year said. 

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said he had no problem with the “competitiveness” between the teams, but he indicated he would rather not see his players put themselves in a position to get ejected.

“It’s the playoffs. It’s physical. It’s chippy. It’s all the things all of you all and the world’s talked about,” Johnson said. “So I think that’s very clear, and I think there’s a level of poise and composure and execution you have to play with through that along with the physicality. And that’s what this is. That’s the playoffs and that’s the conference finals and we got to find a way to do it better.”

Said Castle, “We have to move on and keep our composure throughout the game.”

Vassell maintained his poise the rest of the game to finish with 20 points, seven rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes. It was his second consecutive game of 20-plus points.

Coach bemoans “undisciplined” fouls: Johnson wasn’t happy with his team’s role in sending Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the free throw line 12 times in Game 3.

The two-time league MVP sank all 12 of the freebies on his way to a team-high 26 points in 36 minutes.

“I think probably half of them were from us being undisciplined first off the floor,” Johnson said. “He got us out of position and took advantage of it. I can’t remember how he got all 12 free throws, but I know a few of them were pretty good defense it felt like up until that point. And it’s tough because he gets to spots and he makes tough shots, but you got to keep fighting that urge to try to do more and stay with it.”

Gilgeous-Alexander hit just 6 of 17 shots from the field.

“Those 12 free throws helped out a lot and I can remember at least a few in my head right now that were undisciplined on our end,” Johnson said.

Wembanyama heads elite defensive squad: Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, the unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year, was the lone unanimous selection for the league’s All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced Friday.

Wembanyama’s teammates on the first squad were Oklahoma City forward Chet Holmgren, Detroit guard Ausar Thompson, Minnesota center Rudy Gobert and Boston guard Derrick White, a former Spur. Holmgren and Thompson finished second and third behind Wembanyama in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The second team consisted of New York forward OG Anunoby, Oklahoma City guard Cason Wallace, Miami center Bam Adebayo, Atlanta guard Dyson Daniels and Toronto forward Scottie Barnes.

Spurs guard Stephon Castle narrowly missed selection to the second team with 48 total points, including five first-team votes. Houston forward Amen Thompson also collected 48 points, including five first-team votes.