The NBA is “looking into” several situations that occurred on Wednesday evening, both during and after the Warriors-Thunder game, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports.
The first, a flagrant-one foul by Zaza Pachulia that concluded with the big man staring down Russell Westbrook, and the second being Westbrook’s postgame comments directed towards Pachulia.
“He (Pachulia) hit me kind of hard”, Westbrook said after the game. “But it’s alright. I’m gonna get his a** back. Straight up.
Zaza Pachulia’s decision to stare Westbrook down after the hard foul appeared to anger Westbrook more than the foul itself.
“I didn’t see that until just now, but I don’t play that game,” Westbrook said, telling reporters that he was unaware of Pachulia’s actions until seeing a replay after the game. “I’m gonna get his a– back, so. Whenever that is, I don’t know when it’s going to be, but I don’t play that game.”
Westbrook’s postgame comments could be perceived as a threat to some, explaining why the league is investigating the matter.
According to Marc Stein, neither player is expected to face discipline for their actions. The NBA reviews all flagrant fouls, but are specifically looking at the “totality” of this foul, Stein writes.
Pachulia told reporters after the game that he believed the play did not warrant a flagrant foul.
“I thought it was a good steal, honestly, because I had the ball in my hands,” Pachulia told reporters afterward. “The officials called a foul, and there’s nothing you can do. A foul is a foul. If it was a hard foul, it was a hard foul. There is nothing you can do, so you just move on. If he got hurt, that’s fine, too. It’s part of the game.”
The Warriors held on for a 122-100 home victory against Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, their second victory against the Thunder this season.
These two teams will meet two more times before the Playoffs, on February 11th and March 20th at Oklahoma City.
