1. The Infamous Slide
Let’s not beat around the bush. Pachulia injured Kawhi Leonard. That much is without question, thanks to the evidence contained in this and several other video clips floating around NBA Twitter.
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
What is up for debate is how intentional ending up right under Kawhi’s foot was for the Georgian big man. For what it’s worth, Kawhi himself did not think Pachulia intentionally injured him:
Kawhi told me he does not think the Zaza play was dirty. Said he was just contesting the shot.
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) May 14, 2017
The No. 1 takeaway from this game and every game with an injury has to be simply that injuries are the worst. Whether Zaza tried to hurt Kawhi or not, it unquestionably sucks that Leonard missed most of the second half and could miss more time going forward.
The Spurs and the rest of the NBA community are obviously disappointed, but Golden State is too. The NBA is a fraternity — nobody wants to see a fellow player go down with an injury, especially in the playoffs.
In a more selfish vein, the Warriors are probably sick of everybody finding reasons to discredit them. The Dubs should have no fear of taking on opposing teams at full strength, but there’s nothing they can do about injuries hampering the opposition (unless, of course, the slide under Leonard was intentional).
It’s obvious that Leonard’s injury sparked Golden State’s comeback in Game 1, but hopefully he can get right soon so these teams can square off at full strength again.