Bowen: Zaza's closeout seemed intentional, ‘definitely dangerous'

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On Sunday, Kawhi Leonard tweaked his ankle when he stepped on Zaza Pachulia's foot and had to leave for the remainder of the game.

On Monday, former Spurs guard Bruce Bowen weighed in on what transpired.

"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," Bowen told Mike Monroe of Bleacher Report. "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.

[RELATED: Tony Allen questions Gregg Popovich, defends Zaza Pachulia]

"That play? I've watched it and, yeah, I thought he (Zaza) took an extra step. 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."

Bowen also discussed intent.

"You can rewind something five times and convince yourself of anything. What I saw, he kept moving in that direction after he contested the shot," he explained. "You know you have to let a player come down. He kept walking into that space, so, for me, that says more about the intent.

"You might just run by. You're talking about a big man now, and how often do they close out on a three-point shooter? So, whether it's Pau Gasol or Karl-Anthony Towns, they stay put. There is no technique with bigs. They usually stop short and just put their hands up, because of their length. But, Zaza kept going and took the extra steps.

"From a guard perspective, you want to get close, but you know you can't get too close, because you have to let them come down. You know you have to close out short, and even then, a guy like Jamal Crawford is the king of drawing that type of foul because you can't help getting in his space. So you try to run him off the line so he can get past you, or else you run the risk of a four-point play with him...

"I don't know what is going to happen to Zaza, but if that had been me, I know what would have happened: suspension."

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