OAKLAND — Over in San Francisco on Monday morning, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich blasted Zaza Pachulia for what he called an “unsportsmanlike” closeout of a Kawhi Leonard shot, which resulted in a sprained ankle for the Spurs star.
A couple hours later, across the bay at their practice facility in Oakland, the Warriors responded mostly by brushing it off. But while Warriors coach Mike Brown said he understood the coaching ploy — saying his close friend Popovich was just “protecting his guys” — Brown made sure to point out a play he felt was very similar.
Less than a minute after the Leonard injury, Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge closely contested a Steph Curry 3-pointer. As Curry landed, he fell, looking like he was trying to avoid the same fate as Leonard.
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Here is video of the play, followed by Brown’s full comparison…
Here is the Aldridge close out on Curry — less than a minute after Zaza/Kawhi — that Mike Brown was referring to after practice pic.twitter.com/ZHJXiRzBLR
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 15, 2017
“There were a chain of events that happens. Right before that, Kawhi stepped on David Lee’s foot and tweaked his ankle. Then that play happened. Then at the 7:23 mark, a couple plays or a play later, Steph shot the ball and LaMarcus Aldridge went to contest and went up underneath Steph. Steph avoided landing on his ankle by falling on the ground.
“I even asked two of the three officials, saying: ‘Hey, that’s the same thing you just called on Zaza.’ They both told me the difference was that Kawhi landed on Zaza’s foot and Steph avoided landing on LaMarcus’ foot. That’s why they didn’t call the foul on Zaza. It’s the same play.
“Zaza’s not a dirty player, LaMarcus is not a dirty player. Tough basketball play. Hate to see anyone get injured. But go back and watch the film, they’re both identical — two guys shooting the ball, two big guys going out to contest. They slide under the shooter a little bit, neither one I don’t think on purpose. One happens to land on a foot, the other one doesn’t.”
Mike Brown said there was play similar to Zaza/Kawhi right after where Aldridge slid under Steph: “Zaza’s not dirty. LaMarcus isn’t dirty.” pic.twitter.com/sefA4h6HNS
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 15, 2017
Likely to be plenty of postgame chatter about Zaza sliding under Kawhi, especially if Warriors win pic.twitter.com/ygSdG01UAq
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 14, 2017
