The severely short-handed and exhausted Indiana Pacers hit an enormous wall against the Golden State Warriors new dream team.
The Good: The defense held the Golden State Warriors below 125 points. Hopefully, Paul George, Myles Turner and C.J. Miles all got a little healthier by taking the night off and can return to action as soon as Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.
We can also hope they were taking notes on how to thoroughly dominate an NBA basketball game from beginning to end.
The Bad: The Pacers took 103 shots. The Pacers made 33 of those shots. Not entirely sure the Pacers could have defeated the 76ers tonight, let alone a team as stacked with talent as Golden State.
This one got ugly early with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry putting on a clinic while showing all in attendance the power of exceptional ball movement. The Pacers scored a season-low 83 points, a deadly combination of tired legs from playing in overtime last night in Oklahoma City and a swarming Warriors defense.
MVP: Most of the potential MVP candidates were in suits tonight for the Pacers, but it was nice to see Rodney Stuckey score in double figures for the first time this year and begin to look like a serious threat off the bench. The MVP moment ultimately goes to Steph Curry’s 3/4 court, double-clutch shot at the end of the first half that didn’t count.
LVP: Any Pacer fan who previously bought tickets to this game before the injuries hit in the hopes they would see a competitive game against a highly entertaining opponent.
X-Factor: Injuries. Kevin Durant. Injuries. Free Throw Disparity. Back-to-back games. Injuries. Championship-caliber opponents.