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Thunder star Russell Westbrook vows revenge on Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia after flagrant foul

Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook lies on the court after being fouled by Golden State's Zaza Pachulia on Jan. 18.
(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
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Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook had a beef with a member of the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, and it wasn’t former teammate Kevin Durant.

This time, it was Warriors big man Zaza Pachuli, who knocked Westbrook to the floor during a struggle for the ball late in the first half and appeared to stand over the Thunder point guard as he writhed in pain. Officials reviewed the play and assessed Pachuli with a flagrant foul 1 call.

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There didn’t appear to be any retaliation on the Thunder’s part … not yet, anyway.

“He hit me kind of hard, but it’s all right. I’m going to get his ass back — straight up,” Westbrook told reporters after the game.

When asked if he noticed Pachulia standing over him, Westbrook answered: “Nah, I didn’t see until just now, but I don’t play that game. I’m going to get his ass back so — whenever that is, I don’t know what it’s going to be, but I don’t play that game.”

Pachulia told USA Today: “I just went for the ball, honestly, and I thought it was a good steal.I had the ball in my hands. He was coming towards me, so that was a hit.

“Yeah, it was previous play I got elbowed, but we had a foul to give and [he was] playing pick-and-roll. I was trying to be more aggressive, to control the coverage, and because we had a foul to give with less than a minute or a couple seconds left, so that’s about it. If it’s a hard foul, it is a hard foul. You take it. There’s nothing wrong with [it].”

Westbrook finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for his 21st triple-double of the season, but Oklahoma City was routed by Golden State, 121-100.

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The Warriors visit the Thunder on Feb. 11, but Pachulia said he wasn’t concerned with Westbrook’s vow to get revenge.

“We’re thinking about this team and staying healthy moving forward and, better, getting into the playoffs and playing for the championship. That’s what I’m thinking about,” Pachulia said. “I’m not thinking about these kind of comments. That team is not there, so they might be thinking about other stuff, like getting back. So, you know, OK, you can get me back.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii

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