Zaza Pachulia says hard foul on Russell Westbrook was ‘payback’

MIAMI — During a radio interview Monday, Warriors center Zaza Pachulia explained why he stood over Russell Westbrook after a hard foul on the Oklahoma City guard last week.

“I didn’t mention where everything started, and maybe that’s my fault not to make it clear that I didn’t start that conversation or incident on the court,” Pachulia said on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac.” “He elbowed me right (before the) previous play before I gave him a hard foul. He elbowed me. He lost the ball and threw the elbow in my face. We went on the fast break, Steph (Curry) had the layup and here they come and that’s when I took the hard foul.

Russell Westbrook (0) holds his face after colliding with Zaza Pachulia (27) which was assessed a flagrant 1 foul as the Golden State Warriors played the Oklahoma City Thunder at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, January 18, 2017. less Russell Westbrook (0) holds his face after colliding with Zaza Pachulia (27) which was assessed a flagrant 1 foul as the Golden State Warriors played the Oklahoma City Thunder at Oracle Arena in Oakland, ... more Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Zaza Pachulia says hard foul on Russell Westbrook was ‘payback’ 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

“So it was kind of payback from my side. Like I said, a lot of people didn’t know that. I didn’t talk about it. I think it’s fair for me to say now.”

With less than five seconds left in the second quarter of Golden State’s 121-100 win last Wednesday over the Thunder, Pachulia leveled Westbrook. As Westbrook writhed on the court, grabbing his face, Pachulia stood over him and stared. After a lengthy review by officials, he was assessed a Flagrant 1.

“He hit me kind of hard,” Westbrook later told reporters. “But it’s all right. I’m gonna get his ass back. Straight up.”

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Asked after the game for his reaction to Westbrook’s comments, Pachulia told reporters he wasn’t concerned.

“We’re thinking about this team and staying healthy moving forward and, better, getting into the playoffs and playing for the championship,” Pachulia said. “That's what I’m thinking about. 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

“If it was a hard foul, it was a foul. It wasn’t dirty at all, so I’m not worried about this.”

The Warriors next face the Thunder on Feb. 11 in Oklahoma City.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron