SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has ruled Kawhi Leonard out for
Game 2 of the Western Conference finals with a sprained left ankle after what
Popovich described as a “dangerous” and “unsportsmanlike” closeout by Golden
State’s Zaza Pachulia.
Leonard had an MRI on Monday and Popovich had no timetable on when he’d be able
to return to action.
“We’ll see what the MRI says, but obviously he won’t play tomorrow,” Popovich
said.
Leonard left Game 1 on Sunday after re-injuring his tender left ankle in the
third quarter when Pachulia’s foot slid under Leonard’s following a jumper by
the All-Star forward.
The play happened in front of the Spurs bench and Popovich was angry at the time
and even more upset a day after San Antonio’s 113-111 loss to the Warriors.
“A two-step, lead-with-your-foot closeout is not appropriate,” he said.” “It’s
dangerous, it’s unsportsmanlike. It’s just not what anybody does to anybody
else. And this particular individual has a history with that kind of action.”
Popovich pointed to a history of borderline plays by Pachulia during his time
with Dallas against the Spurs, including a flagrant foul against Patty Mills, a
play where he locked arms with Mills in a way that “could have broken his arm,”
according to Popovich, and run-ins with David West.
Pachulia denied any intent to injure Leonard after the game and his teammates
came to his defense. But Popovich was concerned only with the result not the
intent.
“Because he has this history, it can’t just be, ‘Oh, it’s inadvertent. He didn’t
have intent,'” Popovich said. “Who gives a damn about what his intent was. You
ever hear of manslaughter? You still go to jail, I think, when you’re texting
and you end up killing somebody but you might not have intended to do that. All
I care about is what I saw. All I care about is what happened and the history
there exacerbates the whole situation and makes me very, very angry.”
Leonard didn’t return, giving Golden State an opening for an 18-0 run that keyed
the comeback win.
Leonard scored 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting in nearly 24 minutes to go with
eight rebounds and three assists. He made all 11 of his free throws.
“If he would have played and they ended up winning, I’d go get dinner, have a
glass of wine and wake up the next day and go to practice and move on,” Popovich
said “But this is crap.”
