Even Bruce Bowen thought Zaza Pachulia sliding under Kawhi Leonard's ankle was 'dangerous'

Bowen had a reputation himself for making dirty defensive plays.

Bruce Bowen thinks Zaza Pachulia’s potentially series-defining play against Kawhi Leonard was dirty.

Pachulia slid underneath Kawhi Leonard as he came down from a jump shot in the third quarter of the Golden State Warriors’ Game 1 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Leonard landed directly on his feet, reinjuring an ankle he had aggravated earlier in the quarter — the same ankle he hurt in Game 5, and he consequently sat out Game 6 of San Antonio’s second-round series against the Rockets.

“That play? I've watched it and, yeah, I thought he took an extra step," said Bowen, a defensive stopper on three of the Spurs five championship rosters in the 2000s, according to Bleacher Report’s Mike Monroe. "Plenty of time to stop where he did, but he continued moving in that direction of Kawhi. That seems like it's intentional and it's definitely dangerous."

Many felt Pachulia, given his reputation as a dirty player around the league, intentionally injured the Spurs’ All-Star forward. After all, he contested Leonard’s jump shot, then took an extra step-and-a-half underneath his feet as he landed:

They immediately drew a connection, though, to Bowen, who had a reputation himself as a player who walked the line between clean and dirty during his time. As an eight-time NBA All-Defensive team selection, including five straight nods from 2004-08, Bowen chased around shooters of all sorts. Closing out on perimeters has since become one of the most dangerous plays a defender can make on a helpless opponent.

Bowen didn’t want his name linked to it:

"The thing is, now I've seen all the stuff going around on social (media) and all the things people are saying, and a lot of it involves me," he said. "Well, I used to hate it when people called me dirty. I thought it was unfair when people just piggyback on what other people say. And I still do."

The injury was devastating to San Antonio. By now, you know how this story ends.

Leonard left Game 1 and never returned. The Spurs, who were up 23 at the time, immediately gave up an 18-0 run, allowing the Warriors to outscore them, 58-33, without their MVP candidate on the floor. Golden State took Game 1, 113-111, when it was on the ropes moments earlier.

Leonard didn’t feel Pachulia slid under his feet intentionally. That sentiment doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters for the Spurs is whether or not they’ll have their All-Star forward on the floor for Game 2.

Curry said in his interview following Game 1 that the Spurs are still formidable, with or without Leonard, and that their game plan is still the same. While the latter is true, San Antonio showed it’s a shell of itself without the league’s second-best player on the floor.

And if he can’t make a return, it could be curtains for the Spurs before the show even begins.