Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia suffered a bruised right heel in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and sat out of Games 3 & 4, but he is "a full go" for the Finals and will start Game 1, according to Anthony Slater of the San Jose Mercury News.
Zaza Pachulia, the only injured Warrior rotation player late in the Spurs series, has participated in all parts of all three practices, without restriction on that sore right heel. He is on track to start Game 1 of The Finals on Thursday.
“We’ve done running, had scrimmages and he’s done everything,” Mike Brown said.
There’s a chance that this Warriors-Cavaliers series morphs into a small-ball spectacle, with Cleveland attacking the Warriors with spread shooters and Kevin Love as their backup center. If so, the Warriors may counter by stripping the center from their lineup.
But for now, Pachulia is expected to play his typical 15-20ish minute per night role and he has been fully cleared, health-wise, to do so.
“It’s good that we have one week off,” Pachulia said. “That way I can prepare myself mentally and physically for this team.”
The Warriors were off on Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week before practicing three days in a row, and Pachulia participated in all three practices.
Pachulia actually leads the Warriors with a +28.4 net rating this postseason. He averaged 6.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game this season, and is averaging 6.1 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game in the playoffs.
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