Leonard out for Game 2 but ankle has no structural damage
Zaza Pachulia’s foul on Kawhi Leonard was either dirty or just dangerous, and Gregg Popovich isn’t interested in the NBA’s opinion.
“I don’t care what the league does. I’m just telling you how I feel,” the Spurs coach said Monday. “The league is the league. They do what they do. I couldn’t care less.”
“A totally unnatural closeout that the league has outlawed years ago and pays great attention to it. And Kawhi is not there. And you want to know how we feel about it. You want to know if that lessens our chances or not,” an angry Popovich said.
“Well, we’ve had a pretty damn good season, we’ve played fairly well in the playoffs, I think we’re getting better, and we’re up 23 points in the third quarter against Golden State. And Kawhi goes down, like that. And you want to know if our chances are less, and you want to know how we feel? That’s how we feel.”
Popovich also added: “I don’t give a damn about intent, you still go to jail for manslaughter.”
Popovich just went off… felt Zaza’s close out on Kawhi was inappropriate #Spurs #Warriors pic.twitter.com/Y23hiz9swc
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) May 15, 2017
When the word “intent” came up, Popovich went off again on the Zaza play #Spurs #Warriors pic.twitter.com/hcyy9v6hBl
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) May 15, 2017
Popovich ruled Leonard out for Game 2 of the Western Conference finals , but the debate about the play that caused his injured left ankle raged on long after Leonard crashed to the floor in pain Sunday.
Do people really think this was a dirty play? Zaza looked at the ball the entire time he closed out. pic.twitter.com/OuwgNcjCVq
— Bobby Buckets (@BobbyBucketsYT) May 14, 2017
“That’s really stupid,” Pachulia said of the accusation following the win according to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver. “… I had to challenge the shot, especially (because) it was a hand-off situation. I saw my teammate was behind the screen so I had to challenge the shot. That’s what I did. I turned around for the rebound and that was it.”
Pop calls out Zaza. Let’s take a look back. pic.twitter.com/YEkReAEOPN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 15, 2017
The play that knocked Leonard out of the game and helped Golden State’s huge rally in Game 1 of the series is one the NBA started cracking down on four seasons ago in an effort to protect jump shooters.
And more protection is the last thing shooters need, Cleveland guard Iman Shumpert said.
“Trust me, we don’t need the league putting in any more fouls and advantages for offensive players. We don’t need it. That’s something I think, if you take a contest out of the game, come on,” he said.
But with long-distance shots playing such a heavy role in offenses these days, the risk of injury isn’t going away.
“We see this quite often in the NBA where that defender, they just go a little too far and you’re not allowed to take the landing area away from the jump shooter,” Joe Borgia, the NBA’s senior vice president of replay and referee operations, said Sunday while discussing the foul that was called on Pachulia on his “Making the Call” video segment on NBA.com.
“Obviously a very dangerous situation for players, and the referee luckily stayed on that play all the way until the shooter landed and the foul was called on the play.”
That wasn’t enough for ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy, who argued that Pachulia should have been called for a flagrant one for intentionally sliding under Leonard, which both players denied.
“Did he step under it? Like on purpose? No,” Leonard said afterward. “He was contesting a shot. The shot clock was coming down. I’ll have to see the play.”
Leonard is respected for the way he defends without fouling, but opponents hated the way former Spurs defensive ace Bruce Bowen crowded too closely on their jumpers.
Pachulia said he was just trying to contest the shot and seemed surprised at first that a foul was even called, though many observers on social media thought the play looked suspect.
“Zaza’s not a dirty player. You’ve got to time that perfectly if you want to hurt somebody,” teammate Kevin Durant said. “We’re not that type of team. Kawhi’s an unbelievable player. We’ve got nothing but respect for him. We wish that he gets healthy. … I wish it didn’t happen, but I don’t think it was intentional.
“You can’t listen to people on Twitter, they’re irrational.”
But they aren’t the only ones lately wondering if one of those fouls was intentional. Markieff Morris did the same after the Washington forward landed on Al Horford’s foot in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal, knocking him out of a game the Celtics rallied to win.
Realizing the potential for ankle injuries – a problem for Warriors star Stephen Curry earlier in his career – the NBA made the play one of its points of emphasis for officials before the 2013-14 season , stressing that shooters had to be given the freedom to land. But in a series like the West finals, matching the Warriors’ lethal outside shooters against a Spurs team that led the league in 3-point percentage during the regular season, neither team is going to want to allow too much space.
That’s all Pachulia had in mind.
“I really feel bad for the guy,” he said, “I wish it didn’t happen and it had a different result.”