Ignorance or a lack of intent can be valid, but still fail to serve as a good excuse for the damage. Search Zaza Pachulia's game log history; Similarity Scores. Even Kawhi landing on Zaza's foot reminds me of what GSW asst coach Bruce Fraser said when I'd asked him how much he worries about Steph's ankles Unless the defender is Bowen, it’s hard to prove whether the play was intentional. "We saw it as a major trend in the NBA so we had to almost back up and say, 'Well, wait a minute, this is going to be a trend, so let's catch up to it,'" NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell said. Sign up for the Zaza Pachulia slid under Kawhi Leonard's injured ankle to knock him out of Game 1 Pachulia’s foot was planted after Leonard’s release a step in front of him.

This looks like it could have been avoided. It’s the grayest of areas. TheKawhi Leonard and the Spurs were dominating the favored Warriors in Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference finals — leading by 23 points in the second half — before Leonard sustained a left ankle injury. New, 270 comments. Dirty or not, that one play has brought an unnecessary dark cloud to the playoffs.

Curry himself had suffered bizarre injuries in the previous playoffs. Sign up for the The Spurs lost the game and the series and, ultimately, Leonard was traded to Toronto.Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs were dominating the favored Warriors in Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference finals — leading by 23 points in the second half — before Leonard sustained a left ankle injury. New , 270 comments. These things happen, and they’re even more likely to if, like Leonard, the player is already hurt. Popovich ließ noch einmal seiner Wut auf Zaza Pachulia von den Warriors freien Lauf. They seemed to get baskets on every possession while San Antonio struggled to generate any coherent offense without their best player on the court. Zaza Pachulia slid under Kawhi Leonard's injured ankle to knock him out of Game 1.

Sign up for the This looks like it could have been avoided.

The Spurs ended up losing that year. But that’s different from Pachulia’s defense. What is important is that the play is perilous. It was no surprise that after Leonard went out, the game tilted heavily in Golden State’s favor. https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/NBA-refs-can-rule-reckless-closeouts-as-flagrants-12220572.php Photo: Staff File Photo The Spurs ultimately blew a 25-point lead without Leonard and lost Game 1, 113-111. Whether Pachulia wanted to injure Leonard can be debated forever, though it certainly doesn’t look good in Pachulia’s favor due to his reputation. Photo: Staff File Photo The Spurs had led by 25 points while Leonard was active. By Connor Letourneau. Nick Wright does not agree with Colin Cowherd at all when it comes to Zaza Pachulia. Zaza Pachulia (Georgian: ზაზა ფაჩულია; [zɑzɑ pɑtʃʰuliɑ] born Zaur Pachulia; February 10, 1984) is a Georgian-Turkish professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Kawhi Leonard vs. Zaza Pachulia Comparison Head-to-head comparison between the NBA stars Zaza Pachulia and Kawhi Leonard that includes championships won, honors and awards obtained, regular season and playoffs stats and other data put side by side.

Salaries. He could have done his own ankle in by himself, like he did when he tripped over his teammate’s leg. He has played for the Georgia national team, captaining them in multiple tournaments. "I'm always conscious of it.

For some reason, after Leonard fired, Pachulia inched another few feet closer, causing the Leonard was injured enough to leave the game just minutes before, and one more tweak sat him on the bench for good. Once Leonard was out, the Spurs were doing nothing more than staving off the inevitable. Zaza Pachulia is a Georgian-Turkish professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. He didn’t let the shooter come down cleanly, which led to the injury.

newsletter Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs were dominating the favored Warriors in Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference finals — leading by 23 points in the second half — before Leonard sustained a left ankle injury. LeBron James struggling to even take a shower is all of us during quarantineIt’s good to be The King, but even kings get tired.Announcement: we have a new commenting system comingNike’s new ad is a powerful message about hope, and all athletes being created equalNumber 28 from the Heat was pretty disrespectful to Aerial PowersAndre Iguodala praised the Mystics’ Aerial Powers. The namesake of the rule is Zaza Pachulia, then a center for the Golden State Warriors. It's just a very, very dangerous play. Check Out Kawhi Leonard's Extensive List of Injuries after Nine Years in the NBA . When I go to contest shots I'm always very conscious about making sure I don't walk underneath them. Said he was just contesting the shot.Zaza on being blamed for Kawhi coming down on his foot: "When you are 6-11 and you play hard you get blamed for a lot of things." Just like Flagrant 1 fouls, what the defender intended to do is besides the point. Off a made three-pointer, Leonard backpedaled and tripped on his own teammate on the bench the first time he went down earlier in the quarter. He won two NBA championships with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. Note, this is done in an automated way, so we apologize for any errors, & please report any suggested corrections.