Moments after the Kawhi Leonard watched idly from the locker room as his San Antonio Spurs forfeited a 25-point lead in their Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the All-Star forward said he did not believe Zaza Pachulia intentionally injured his ankle.
Kawhi Leonard doesn’t think Zaza Pachulia intentionally injured him
Leonard left Game 1 after a pair of third-quarter ankle injuries sent him to the locker room. The Warriors then came back from down 25 to win.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Kevin Durant came to his teammate’s defense, saying after the game, “Zaza’s not a dirty player.”
“You’ve got to time that perfectly if you want to hurt somebody,” Durant said during his postgame press conference. “We’re not that type of team. You can’t listen to people on Twitter. They’re irrational.”
Leonard injured his left ankle in the third quarter of the Spurs’ 113-111 loss to the Warriors on Sunday while accidentally stepping on the ankle of David Lee, who was sitting on the bench inches away. The Spurs’ forward left then re-entered moments later, but would re-injured his ankle after Pachulia slid underneath him while contesting a jump shot.
Leonard called his ankle re-injury “very painful,” according to the San Antonio Express-News’ Mike Finger, though he did not rule out a return for Game 2.
Pachulia also spoke after the game saying the move was not intentional.
Leonard’s injury was to the same ankle he hurt in Game 5 of the Spurs’ second-round series against the Houston Rockets. San Antonio went on to win that series in six games, blowing Houston out by 39 in the deciding game.
The Spurs couldn’t find the same fortune against the Warriors in Game 1, though. After Leonard’s injury, Golden State went on an 18-0 run to slash down on a 25-point lead. They outscored the Spurs, 71-49, in the second half, including a 58-33 barrage in the 19-plus minutes Leonard missed in the second half.
Leonard had 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the 24 minutes he played.
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