Russell Westbrook had some choice words for Zaza Pachulia after Saturday night's contest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors related to an incident that involved Pachulia "intentionally" falling on Westbrook's legs in an attempt to injure him.
The comments followed the Thunder's 112-80 loss to the Warriors on Saturday night. During a post-game interview, the reigning NBA MVP was asked about an incident that occurred late in the third quarter in, when Pachulia toppled onto his legs after he fell onto the ground following a drive to the basket. Westbrook was asked what happened regarding the tie-up.
"Obviously it was intentional," said Westbrook. "Nobody touched him. He fell over my leg and tried to hurt me. But hey, that's how it go."
The Brodie was not the only Thunder player who was unhappy with the play. His first year teammate Paul George also had some comments of his own about the incident following the game.
"You know Zaza, you know his history, and you know nobody pushed him. He aimed where he was gonna fall," said George.
The opinions did not stop with the Thunder roster either. Even Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving had his own thoughts about how the play went down that he commented on Instagram. "The league has to look at this man, this shit is ridiculous," he said.
Of course, Pachulia came to his own defense regarding the dirty play as well, claiming that Westbrook's accusations were "childish."
This is not the first time that the Warriors center has found himself at the center of accusations about dirty play. During last year's Western Conference Finals matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, he infamously slid his foot under Kawhi Leonard's as he was coming down from a shot, which led to a major injury to the superstar that kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Westbrook and Pachulia also have a past that includes even more questionable scuffles, so this most recent play just adds a little more fuel to the fire.
Intentional or not, hopefully the NBA can get this situation figured out to prevent Pachulia from continuing his dirty antics in the future before they lead to yet another detrimental injury. In the meantime, the center shouldn't be too surprised if a fine comes his way in the next few days.
