Dubs’ Chris Paul appears to try and take out Wolves’ player’s knees

Warriors guard Chris Paul appears to have added another moment to his prolific history of dirty plays on Sunday during the Dubs’ 116-110 loss to the Timberwolves.

Early in the fourth quarter, Karl Anthony-Towns forced a loose ball out of the hands of Kevon Looney. While Paul and Conley went after the ball at the same time, Paul had a step on the Wolves point guard, allowing him to dive on the ground first. It also allowed the Warriors guard to fling his body towards Conley’s knees, and send him buckling to the ground.

To add insult to injury to the Minnesota player — who remained on the floor in pain after the play — Conley was called for the personal foul on the play.

While it could very well be argued that Paul was turning his body to protect the ball, Paul’s reputation leaves very little room for any benefit of the doubt. Warriors fans would know better than anyone the stuff he tries to get away with on the court, just ask Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut or Kevin Durant. Beyond that, Paul is simply known for these kinds of shenanigans on the court.

Neither Paul nor Conley addressed this incident after the game, but the video in question has gotten lots of circulation online, with plenty of criticism, meaning there’s a chance the league could make a late ruling on this before the two teams face off again on Tuesday in the Warriors’ second In-Season Tournament game.

When the Warriors traded for Paul this offseason, the stated goal was to get an experienced veteran who could help serve as another big-name leader on the roster. Using that experience to get away with diving at an opponent’s knees is probably not what the organization had in mind, but given Golden State’s tolerance for such nonsense, it could just as easily be collateral damage they were always willing to accept.