{"id":1764,"date":"2026-06-10T13:11:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1764"},"modified":"2026-06-10T13:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:11:05","slug":"warriors-historic-15-1-playoff-run-big-man-pachulia-remembers-joy-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1764","title":{"rendered":"Warriors\u2019 historic 15-1 playoff run: Big man Pachulia remembers joy, pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 The 2017 Warriors\u2019 claim to being the most dominant team in NBA history survived a sturdy challenge Monday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Bay Area downtowns aren\u2019t dying \u2013 they\u2019re changing<\/a><\/p>\n

The Knicks ran off 13 consecutive playoff victories over the last month-plus, but came up short of Golden State\u2019s record of 15 in a row, falling to the Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New York\u2019s downfall could, in some part, be attributed to dumb fouls, a few missed rotations and a handful of lazy passes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All it takes is one sloppy game, even from the best team in the league, for a historic winning streak to end, a starter on that 2017 Warriors team remarked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get in the playoffs, you understand that the small details are so important,\u201d Zaza Pachulia told the Bay Area News Group recently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So what set those Warriors apart from the numerous other great outfits that have gone on to win titles in the years after?<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, adding Kevin Durant in his prime to a unit coming off a 73-9 regular season with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green at the peaks of their powers had a lot to do with it. Motivation in the form of the blown 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals did, too, for the returning players.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Pachulia emphasized that even such a talented team would not have won 15 consecutive playoff games without a talented coaching staff that included current Knicks coach Mike Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMike is amazing and a great human being, so approachable and likeable,\u201d Pachulia said. \u201cHe\u2019s a player\u2019s coach and he\u2019s the type of guy you have to respect. It doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re coming from or what kind of success you have, because he speaks everyone\u2019s language.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was apparent from the outset \u2013 Pachulia signed with Golden State after Durant signed \u2013 that the team was destined to dominate, but he noted that it was Steve Kerr and the coaching staff who pushed the roster to maximise its talents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hit a pretty good start, we won like 10 in a row (early in the season),\u201d Pachulia said. \u201cBut the feeling and conversations from our coaching staff were, \u2018I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve played the best brand of basketball.\u2019 That was another wild moment. I was like, \u2018What are we talking about?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was that constant push to be the very best that propelled the Warriors from a dominant team to a buzzsaw that went on to a postseason record that may never be equaled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more FBI raids homes of outgoing, incoming Contra Costa assessors as agents seek wire fraud evidence<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

As Brown\u2019s Knicks approached the record streak, comparisons naturally arose. After all, Jalen Brunson\u2019s shotmaking and Karl-Anthony Towns\u2019 well-rounded playmaking do resemble the skillset of certain Warriors stars. Pachulia pushed against the temptation to find similarities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like when people talk about comparisons. It\u2019s not fair to Mike,\u201d Pachulia said. \u201cBrunson, hell of a player, but it\u2019s not fair to compare him to Steph, and it\u2019s not fair to Steph to compare him to Brunson. They\u2019re different.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of comparing the teams, Pachulia wanted to focus on the great memories he made in the Bay Area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe talent we had, the team we had, we had several personalities we had, and the type of players and leadership, that resonated with the result we put out there,\u201d Pachulia said. \u201cIt was so amazing, and so fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Only a meaningless Game 4 victory for the Cavaliers prevented Golden State from being the only team in NBA history to go 16-0 in a postseason. The Warriors swept the Blazers, Jazz and Spurs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI played against some great teams, but I don\u2019t think any team has had this type of firepower,\u201d LeBron James said at the time. \u201cSo even when you\u2019re playing well, you got to play like A-plus plus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But, a decade later, recalling the playoffs also brought back memories of his series-changing foul on the Spurs\u2019 Kawhi Leonard. Pachulia closed out on Leonard\u2019s jump shot in Game 1, and the superstar rolled his ankle as he landed on Pachulia\u2019s foot.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Warriors went on to sweep the Spurs, but what Pachulia remembered was the simultaneous torrent of vitriol that ensued. His sons were even held out of school for the next few days after threats were made against his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe saddest part was that my family and wife were affected,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat does an 8-year-old kid have to do with this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pachulia wanted to emphasize that moment was only one part of an otherwise tremendous year for him, both on the court and personally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho cares what anyone else says outside of this locker room,\u201d Pachulia remembered as the central message from the coaching staff. \u201cEvery meeting, every trip, every bus ride is with these guys. You\u2019re part of this family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Oakland\u2019s \u2018Crappy Childhood Fairy\u2019 sues after fine for practicing psychology without a license<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Warriors won 15 straight playoff games, but Pachulia\u2019s defining moment came on a series-changing foul in the conference finals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWarriors\u2019 historic 15-1 playoff run: Big man Pachulia remembers joy, pain - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1764\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warriors\u2019 historic 15-1 playoff run: Big man Pachulia remembers joy, pain - 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