OAKLAND–The Warriors got together before practice and, among other things, brought up the fiery comments from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich earlier today, when Popovich blasted Zaza Pachulia for the play that injured Kawhi Leonard in Game 1.

You could tell that the Warriors were determined to be focused in response, from Pachulia to David West to Draymond Green to Mike Brown:

–Don’t lose their cool or make any big counter–charges, because they know Popovich’s commentary was part of the playoff theater;

-Let Brown explain the particulars of why they don’t believe Pachulia’s crowding of Leonard at the three-point line was out of ordinary;

-And just let the conversation go on mostly without them, as they focus on Game 2 tomorrow.

Pachulia has been in the middle of a few of these, as Popovich pointed out, and you could tell that he was not thrilled to be the headliner on the national talk-show circuit today, but that he knew he had to sit there and take questions about it, at least today.

I’ll write a column with my opinions on all this in a bit, but for now, here’s what Pachulia was asked, and how he answered.

—ZAZA PACHULIA gaggle transcript/

-Q: Did (Warriors PR chief) Raymond Ridder fill you in on what Popovich today?

-PACHULIA: Yeah.

-Q: Any response?

-PACHULIA: No. No response. I have a lot of respect for Coach Pop and the organization, whatever they’re going through. A lot of respect. And no comments, no response, and focus on Game 2 is all that’s on my mind. We watched the tape today and some of the good things we did, some things we could do better, and we’re just moving on.

-Q: What are you taught when you’re challenging a guy at the three-point line? Are you taught to crowd him like that?

-PACHULIA: Well first of all, it depends on the person, who you’re guarding–a shooter, a non-shooter. So it depends on the person and the strengths and weaknesses they have.

-Q: And on that play, against Kawhi?

-PACHULIA: He’s an amazing shooter. So KD… I already talked about it yesterday, but KD got hung on a screen, that was a good screen, so I had to help my teammate and just challenge the shot.

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-Q: Does it bother you that Pop called that play unsportsmanlike?

-PACHULIA: Not really, it doesn’t bother me because I want to say it for the last time, and that’s it, I did whatever I had to do. That was the right defense for my side, to challenge the shot.

I wish he had not landed on my foot and honestly I had no idea he had landed on my foot until I turned back and he was already on the ground. Because as soon as he released the ball, I turned around and I was going to chase the rebound and see where the ball was going, and apparently he landed on my foot when I was already turned.

So I heard the whistle, so I started running away because I knew I didn’t make contact with him and kind of surprised with the whistle. I started running away and when I turned back and saw him on the floor, he was holding his ankle, I was trying to figure out what happened. Honestly I didn’t know.

I really feel bad foor the guy. I wish it didn’t happen. Had a different result, basically. But again, this is a game, there are things nobody can control.

I have a lot of respect for Kawhi; he’s one of the best players in this league and wish him all the best, to get healthy, back, and we’re all going to move on.

This is the game of basketball, a lot of crazy stuff happens on the court, unfortunately. It happened to me as well–when you play this kind of physical game, intense game, things happen.

My approach to this game for the 14 years I’ve been in this league, to play hard and give 100% of whatever I have.

I don’t agree with the calls that I’m a dirty player; I’m not a dirty player. I just love this game and I’m playing hard. That’s how I was taught since Day 1, honestly. That’s what I’ve been doing. And that’s my last comment about it–on my mind is the next game because that’s the most important game for me.

-Q: Does it surprise you that Popovich would bring up some past incidents, including one when you got into it with David West? He brought up a bunch of plays from the past.

-PACHULIA: I don’t pay attention to it; I don’t care about that stuff. All I care about is tomorrow’s game. I’m thinking about our gameplan, that’s my priority.

There are things I can control; I can’t control what anybody says, right? But I can control what I’m telling you guys, that’s what happened, and that’s how I feel about it, that I feel bad about it, that it happened. But at the same time, I can only control what I do tomorrow.

-Q: Are you concerned about your reputation?

-PACHULIA: I’m not. I’m definitely not. Again, I’m going to keep playing hard, that’s what I’m going to be doing… so not at all.

-Q: Are you worried about a possible suspension or anything like that?

-PACHULIA: It’s not in my hands.

-Q: How was it to have that extended playing time in the third quarter?

-PACHULIA: It was great. Obviously throughout this season I’ve had ups and downs with the minutes. But again, we have amazing players. I think all players can have big roles on this team or different teams. It shows we’re really deep, especially at the center position, and it was obviously to great to play that many minutes.

But most importantly, it’s all about the win. Right now, it’s not about who plays, it’s about winning the game.

-Q: Are you looking over your shoulder at some point, wondering if you’re going to get taken out?

-PACHULIA: Yeah, I mean, normally it happens at the six-minute mark. But I didn’t see JaVale there and I kept playing and kept playing. I’m glad it was a good third quarter; I’m glad we won the game. All those points, hustle plays, all those rebounds… whatever you do, it doesn’t count unless you win the game.

It was a great comeback and a great win for us.

-Q: How does the absence of Kawhi change Game 2?

-PACHULIA: We’ve seen it in Game 6 against Houston; they have a system, so it doesn’t matter who plays, they’re going to play hard. They’re disciplined and very well coached and play hard.

Honestly, Kawhi’s a huge part of that team, but we’re definitely not going to get relaxed because their best player’s not playing, because they are capable of beating anybody with that roster.