Warriors have graduated from illegal screens to straight up shoving people

This is getting out of control.

They used to get away with it. Over the past two seasons, the Golden State Warriors made a name for themselves with last-second screens that pushed the boundaries of legality. The evolution of those screens, however, is just flat-out criminal.

In the second quarter of the Warriors’ Game 1 Western Conference Finals matchup with the San Antonio Spurs, Zaza Pachulia straight up shoved Patty Mills as he attempted to close out on an open Stephen Curry three-pointer. The referees didn’t call the foul as Mills went flying out of the picture, and Curry drained the open shot without a hand in his face.

Just look at the Spurs’ bench for confirmation.

We’ve analyzed the Warriors’ screens before. They’re not any more illegal than any other team. But flat-out pushing a player out of the picture can’t happen. Pachulia looked as guilty as a convicted felon after nudging Mills out of Curry’s way. And even though the Spurs hold a 20-point lead at the half, the referees can’t set this type of tone so early into a conference finals series.