Warriors plan to protect Pachulia
Stephen Curry pulled Zaza Pachulia aside and made one thing clear to the Warriors big man: We got your back.
Other teammates echoed that message.
Pachulia will most certainly receive a villain’s welcome for Game 3 of the Western Conference finals tonight in San Antonio regardless of whether he’s on the court or not, simply because Pachulia was involved in the play that injured Kawhi Leonard in the series opener.
“I think he’ll be booed pretty badly,” Golden State’s Draymond Green said yesterday in Oakland, Calif. “I’ve definitely been in that situation before. He’ll get it pretty good, but he’ll be fine.”
Leonard, whose status for Game 3 remained unclear, didn’t play in Game 2 after re-injuring his tender left ankle in the third quarter of Game 1 when he came down on Pachulia’s foot after shooting a long jumper.
San Antonio lost, 113-111, without him, squandering a 20-point halftime lead, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was peeved. The next day, Popovich called the play “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike” and insisted Pachulia has a history.
“Zaza’s got a thick skull, so I know when he gets out there he’s going to be able to play,” Curry said. “I know guys in the locker room have told him, ‘As best you can, block out as much of this noise as possible because it doesn’t matter. We know what kind of person you are, be apologetic for Kawhi about what happened but you don’t have to apologize for your intent on how you’re guarding that play, whatever you want to call it.’ So, moving on, he’ll be ready, he’ll be the same Zaza, confident. That’s what we expect, and he knows that we have his back. And hopefully that’ll go a long way.
“I talked to him. I don’t think he needed to hear it but just knowing that we all have his back is, I think, huge, especially at this juncture with the spotlight and microscope that everybody’s under.”
Without Leonard, the Spurs took a 136-100 thumping in Game 2, prompting Popovich to question their belief and effort. Asked yesterday whether San Antonio might come out differently tonight, Pop said succinctly, “I believe that.”
Asked again whether he thought Pachulia’s play was dirty, initially having said he didn’t consider it intentional, Leonard said he’s spending his energy on getting healthy.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s health has improved enough that he traveled to Texas with the team, an encouraging sign after he returned to practice for the first time in more than three weeks last Saturday following a May 5 procedure to repair a spinal fluid leak. The reigning coach of the year then attended Games 1 and 2 behind the scenes but spoke to the Warriors before the game and at halftime.
Elsewhere in the NBA — Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are the finalists for the NBA’s MVP award.
Leonard’s coach, the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich, was nominated in the Coach of the Year category, as was Mike D’Antoni, who coaches Harden in Houston, and Miami’s Erik Spoelstra.
The three finalists in each category were announced yesterday. The winners will be announced on June 26 during the NBA’s first awards show. Previously, individual awards were announced throughout the postseason.
The Philadelphia 76ers have two chances at the Rookie of the Year award, with Joel Embiid and Dario Saric finalists along with Milwaukee’s Malcom Brogdan.