OAKLAND, Calif. — It is safe to assume that Zaza Pachulia, the starting center for the Golden State Warriors, never expected be the source of so much debate at this stage of the N.B.A. playoffs. On a team full of scoring savants, Pachulia is a low-post plodder. It must feel a little like being the only vegetarian at a ribs joint. But he does his job, and it is not always elegant.
Now some are calling him dirty. All it took was one extra step, the most controversial closeout on a shooter in recent memory, for Pachulia to become Enemy No.