D’Angelo Russell gave a monster scoring effort in the loss, dropping 37 points with 5 assists on 13-of-21 shooting from the field (9-of-13 from three-point range).
The ballhawking Pacers scored 33 points off 20 Warriors turnovers, punishing the Dubs for any sloppy offense.
T.J. Warren led the Pacers' attack with 33 points, while Indy reserve Doug McDermott was unstoppable off the bench and scored 24 points on 6-of-7 shooting from downtown. Indiana shot a scorching 17-of-28 (60%) from the three-point line; it seemed like they daggered Golden State every time a shooter was left open.
First Half
The Warriors raced out to a 19-10 lead fueled by an energetic Chase crowd, but the Pacers had no problems corralling the energy of the building and striking back. Indiana won the first quarter 35-30 on the strength of 16 points in the paint.
Russell scored 10 points in the first and finished with 16 at the half, but his scoring prowess did not prevent the deficit from ballooning. The bulky Indy forward Warren dominated the Warriors early with 21 points by intermission, bulling wherever he wanted.
The Pacers outshot the Dubs 56%-46% after two quarters and stole the ball from Golden State ELEVEN TIMES in the first half.
The Warriors roared back in the third quarter, fueled in part by a zone defense that slowed down the Pacers inside attack. Russell went nuclear in the period, scoring 16 points in the frame on some Stephen Curry-esque bombs.
The Dubs cut the deficit to as low as 85-81, but a barrage of Pacers’ threes pushed Golden State back into a double-digit hole. After that monstrous comeback attempt, the home team ended the third quarter trailing 98-86.
Rookie Jordan Poole showed some promise in the final frame: he drilled back-to-back three-pointers and nailed all three free throws after being fouled beyond the arc to cut the deficit to 112-106 with 6:20 remaining.
This loss is tougher in retrospect, I think, because so many players on the Warriors side played well.
Right off the bat Marquese Chriss made the front office look great for trading Cauley-Stein away, because Chriss brought athleticism and energy plays that we never saw from Willey, plus solid, reliable defense and smarter shot selection. If he plays this way with regularity going forward, Chriss has a bright future.
DLo got smoking hot from the field, but his defense left something to be desired, and his passing was more foolish than Draymond and Steph on their bad days. Still, if he'd had a friendlier whistle he might carried the game.
With Paschall and Spellman also playing pretty well, and Draymond doing very typical things, it was only Alec Burks who had an off night. Yet still, turnovers from across the board gave the game away (credit the Pacers' very disciplined defense!) and poor attentiveness on defending the 3-ball on the other end sealed it.
In other words, this was a winnable game, just barely, but the Warriors still aren't playing winning team ball. And that's on a night when most of the squad looked better than usual, versus a middle-of-the-pack playoff team missing two of its best players.
In other words, this team is still pretty far from being a contender.
It seemed like a couple of ill timed misses from DLee and Burks kept us from getting up on top. I can’t wait until the ball whips around and ends up in the hands of either Steph or Klay.
This loss is tougher in retrospect, I think, because so many players on the Warriors side played well.
Right off the bat Marquese Chriss made the front office look great for trading Cauley-Stein away, because Chriss brought athleticism and energy plays that we never saw from Willey, plus solid, reliable defense and smarter shot selection. If he plays this way with regularity going forward, Chriss has a bright future.
DLo got smoking hot from the field, but his defense left something to be desired, and his passing was more foolish than Draymond and Steph on their bad days. Still, if he'd had a friendlier whistle he might carried the game.
With Paschall and Spellman also playing pretty well, and Draymond doing very typical things, it was only Alec Burks who had an off night. Yet still, turnovers from across the board gave the game away (credit the Pacers' very disciplined defense!) and poor attentiveness on defending the 3-ball on the other end sealed it.
In other words, this was a winnable game, just barely, but the Warriors still aren't playing winning team ball. And that's on a night when most of the squad looked better than usual, versus a middle-of-the-pack playoff team missing two of its best players.
In other words, this team is still pretty far from being a contender.
Believe it or not, GSW win if they weren't so sloppy.
Per 36 minutes
Player A: 24.9 points on .550 true shooting
Player B: 26.7 points on .560 true shooting
Player C: 28.3 points on .569 true shooting
Player A is Kobe Bryant, career. Player C is Michael Jordan, career. Player B is D'Angelo Russell this season at age 23.
Top players:
Pacers:
Warren: (+11)
33 points 14/23 FGs 3/6 three pointers 2/3 FTs
5 rebounds (3 off.) 2 assists 1 turnover 4 steals 1 block
McDermott: (+3)
24 points 9/10 FGs 6/7 three pointers
2 rebounds 1 assist 1 turnover 1 steal
Lamb: (-4, 3rd place)
16 points 7/9 FGs 2/3 three pointers
4 rebounds 4 assists 1 steal 1 block
Sabonis: (-8, 3rd place)
16 points 5/13 FGs 6/6 FTs
10 rebounds (1 off.) 8 assists 6 turnovers 3 steals
Honorable mention:
Holiday: (+21)
12 points 4/8 FGs 4/5 three pointers
2 rebounds (1 off.) 7 assists 1 assist 1 block
McConnell: (-3)
12 points 5/9 FGs 2/2 FTs
1 rebound 8 assists 1 turnover 1 steal 1 block
Warriors:
Russell: (+1)
37 points 13/21 FGs 9/13 three pointers 2/2 FTs
4 rebounds 5 assists 5 turnovers
Robinson III: (-7)
18 points 7/10 FGs 2/5 three pointers 2/3 FTs
7 rebounds (1 off.) 1 assist 2 turnovers 1 block
Green: (-3, 3rd place)
10 points 3/8 FGs 1/4 three pointers 3/3 FTs
6 rebounds (1 off.) 11 assists 4 turnovers 1 steal 1 block
Chriss: (-3, 3rd place)
13 points 5/5 FGs 1/1 three poiner 2/2 FTs
3 rebounds (1 off.) 1 assist 2 turnovers 2 steals 2 blocks
Honorable mention:
Paschall: (-8)
9 points 3/7 FGs 0/1 three pointer 3/4 FTs
7 rebounds (3 off.) 2 assist 2 turnovers 2 steals
It seemed like a couple of ill timed misses from DLee and Burks kept us from getting up on top. I can’t wait until the ball whips around and ends up in the hands of either Steph or Klay.
Final stats:
Pacers:
56.8% shooting (50/88 FGs)
17/28 three pointers
12/13 FTs
36 rebounds (5 off.)
35 assists
12 turnovers
15 steals
4 blocks
Warriors:
48.8% shooting (40/82 FGs)
19/39 three pointers
38 rebounds (7 off.)
31 assists
20 turnovers
6 steals
4 blocks
Points in paint:
Pacers: 56
Warriors: 28
Fastbreak points:
Pacers: 19
Warriors: 16
Points off turnovers:
Pacers: 33
Warriors: 11
Bench points:
Pacers: 46
Warriors: 38
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