Zaza Pachulia Claims He Did What He Was ‘Supposed To’ On The Play That Injured Kawhi Leonard

The Warriors came back from a 25-point deficit to defeat the Spurs at home on Sunday afternoon in Oakland in one of the largest postseason comebacks ever. However, the conversation after the game wasn’t about Steph Curry or Kevin Durant’s incredible play and instead the play that took Kawhi Leonard out of the game.

Leonard’s left ankle sprain that kept him out of the series-clinching Game 6 against the Rockets was re-injured on two third quarter plays. The first came when he rolled it stepping on the foot of one of his teammates sitting on the bench, and the second — the one that knocked him out of the game — came a minute later when he landed on Zaza Pachulia’s foot during a contested jump shot. Leonard limped off the floor with the help of the Spurs trainer and will have an MRI on that ankle later Sunday evening.

At the time of the injury San Antonio was up 23 points, but the Warriors ripped off an immediate 18-0 run after Leonard left the game and eventually completed the comeback to win 113-111 and hold home court advantage. After the game, Pachulia and Leonard talked about the play that caused Kawhi to leave the game and both said it wasn’t a dirty play, as some felt it was on social media. The reasoning, upon review of the play, was that you could see Pachulia shuffle under Leonard’s feet after the initial contest, which looks bad considering the outcome of the play.

Pachulia, when questioned about what happened, said he was just doing what he was supposed to do in the situation by stepping out and challenging the shot.

Pachulia was then asked about the play and his thoughts on people saying it was dirty, and called the idea that he purposefully slid under Leonard “stupid.”

“That’s really stupid,” Pachulia said. “I did my part like I said to challenge the shot, especially with the hand-off situation. I saw that my teammate was behind the screen and challenge the shot is what I did. Turned around for the rebound and that was it. I hate it, anybody going down like that with an injury. I’m an athlete too, so I know how it feels.”

Leonard was also asked about the play and whether he felt there was some malicious intent from Pachulia on the foul, and, as one would expect from Leonard, he insisted it was just a hard contest and something that can happen.

Even Kevin Durant was asked about the play and he stuck up for his teammate, saying it wasn’t intentional at all.

Despite the consensus from both locker rooms that it wasn’t a malicious play, that won’t stop fans from being upset about it and calling Pachulia out for what could be perceived as a dirty move in sliding all the way under Leonard’s feet on the contest. We’ll learn about Leonard’s status for Game 2 after the MRI and other testing on it occurs, but as of now it looks bad for the Spurs’ chances in this series.