Zaza Pachulia has a reputation for toeing the line between chippy and outright dirty play. He crossed it in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
Zaza Pachulia definitely maybe punched Iman Shumpert in the groin
Pachulia went after Shumpert in a bad place.
During the third quarter in Cleveland, the Warriors center went to the ground in a scrum for a loose ball. Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert stood over Pachulia. Then Pachulia moved his arm forcefully into the groin of Shumpert, in such a way that it looked a whole lot like he was trying to whack him in the testicles. It set off a fracas.
Let’s see another angle:
Pachulia was most recently in the news for an aggressive close-out of Spurs star Kawhi Leonard in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. That play might not have been clean, but at least there was a legitimate question about Pachulia’s intent. When you hit somebody in the balls, there aren’t a whole lot of questions to be answered.
Pachulia remained in the game.
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