Watch: Did Kevin Durant intentionally elbow Chris Paul in face?
We have seen plenty of chippy play in the Western Conference semifinal series between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, and the result in many of those situations has been technical fouls. Kevin Durant should consider himself lucky that he did not pick one up for a cheap shot on Chris Paul during Game 4 Monday night.
After he left his feet for a rebound on a shot that ended up going in, Durant appeared to look right at Paul and then swing his elbow in the direction of CP3’s face. It’s hard to tell if he actually made contact, but Paul grabbed his face and went down.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 7, 2019
Many felt it was an acting job from Paul, who is certainly no stranger to flopping. Even if Durant did miss with the elbow, it looked like he knew exactly what he was doing with the way he looked at Paul first before throwing his left arm at him.
No foul was called, but the NBA could look at the play. Since the video doesn’t clearly show if Durant actually elbowed Paul or only tried to, it seems unlikely that he’ll face any disciplinary action over it.