The Warriors now have a ‘dirty’ Spurs play they can complain about, too

The Spurs’ chances in the Western Conference finals have been ruined by Kawhi Leonard’s Game 1 injury, an ankle sprain caused when Leonard landed on Zaza Pachulia’s foot during a closeout. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was furious about the play, calling it “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike.”

After Game 3, the Warriors now have a play they can complain about, too. Here’s Dewayne Dedmon setting a blindside moving screen on Stephen Curry that appears to buckle Curry’s outstretched leg, knocking him over. Curry wasn’t injured, but there’s certainly a chance that the play could have ended catastrophically.

Curry, asked about the play, said he did feel like it was dirty.

“I know he’s not a dirty player. I’m not going to try to mess up his reputation, but I feel like that was a dirty play,” Curry told ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “Luckily no one was hurt.”

Curry said he thought it was even worse after seeing a replay, where you can see Dedmon lean in with his hip or knee. No foul was called on the play.

“I thought it was an illegal screen,” Warriors acting head coach Mike Brown told Haynes. “When it happened live, I was not sure, but when you look at the film, it was an illegal pick. Sometimes the officials make the call, and sometimes they don’t.”

Certainly, Dedmon should have been whistled for that play. It’s hard to say whether he intentionally meant to buckle Curry’s leg like that or if he was just trying to set the best possible pick that slightly bent the rules of the game. Certainly, the play looked potentially as dangerous as Pachulia’s, but the difference was Curry didn’t get injured. In part, it shows that every team has plays like this and Pachulia’s action, in particular, was highlighted because of the result.

The Warriors won Game 3 by a score of 120-108 and are now up 3-0 in the series with a chance to close out the Spurs on Monday night. Leonard is questionable after missing the previous two games.