With less than five seconds remaining in the first half of the Warriors-Thunder game on Wednesday night, Zaza Pachulia put down a hard foul on Russell Westbrook. The Warriors had a foul to give at the time and Pachulia made sure he used it.
Zaza Pachulia stares down Russell Westbrook after body-checking him to the court
It’s football season in the NBA
Immediately after the foul, Pachulia stood over Westbrook and stared him down. It’s not clear what happened before the play to cause this, but it’s hard not to think there might be some bad blood here. Westbrook did not engage with Pachulia after the play and walked away.
The foul was upgraded to a Flagrant 1, therefore Westbrook was given two shots and the Thunder received the ball back. The possession ended up being a four-point swing for the Thunder as Westbrook hit both free throws followed by a Kanter jumper.
It’s been a week for football-like plays in the NBA after Draymond Green and LeBron James had something similar on Monday night.
