Kevin Durant on LaMarcus Aldridge’s Controversial Closeout: ‘Not on Purpose At All’
Dangerous closeouts on the perimeter continued to dominate the conversation during the Warriors’ 136-100 Game 2 win over the Spurs on Tuesday.
Late in the second quarter, LaMarcus Aldridge slid his foot under Kevin Durant while closing out on KD’s jumper, a la Zaza Pachulia’s infamous closeout on Kawhi Leonard in Game 1.
https://youtu.be/JILoWO8rjg4
Durant said that Aldridge wasn’t used to guarding players on the perimeter, and he was just trying his best to contest the shot.
https://youtu.be/0bv22N60idE?t=1m49s
“Bigs are not used to being out on the perimeter and guarding guys out on the perimeter. Basically their whole thing is to give you space, and when you pull up, they just contest. That’s just part of the game, it’s been happening forever since I’ve been in the League.
“Bigs just try to contest shots and sometimes that stuff may happen. But it’s not on purpose at all.
“You know LaMarcus. He’s a standup guy. He just plays the game the right way. It wasn’t anything more than that.”
After the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich publicly called out Aldridge—who only scored 8 points—for not asserting himself enough offensively.
Gregg Popovich: "LaMarcus has got to score for us. He can't be timid. He turned down shots… He's got a major responsibility in Game 3."
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 17, 2017
