After a six-day stretch between games, the Indiana Pacers dropped a close game to the Golden State Warriors 111-107.
A Malcolm Brogdon up-and-under with 12 seconds left let Indiana cut the deficit to 107-105 after they trailed 107-101 with a minute left, but the Warriors hit their shots from the charity stripe down the stretch and closed the game out.
The game featured 15 lead changes and 16 ties, but it felt like Golden State was in control for most of the fourth quarter. The Pacers struggled to string stops and effective offense together and were left constantly playing from one-or-two possessions behind.
Neither team ever grew a lead beyond seven, but the Warriors’ ability to get into the teeth of the Pacers’ defense and score inside allowed them consistently grab timely buckets.
Losing a home game where the opponent only makes five three-pointers and the best shooter of all-time goes 1-11 from deep shouldn’t sit well for Indiana.
While Stephen Curry didn’t have a great night shooting, his impact was apparent throughout the night. The attention that was paid to him on the defensive end allowed others around him to hurt the Pacers throughout the night, and a 9-10 night from the free-throw line helped make up for the poor shooting.
Nate Bjorkgren tried to box-and-1 the All-Star at times, but the playmaking of Curry and Draymond Green opened up holes throughout the defense.
Green finished with 12 points and 11 assists to go along with nine rebounds. The forward also registered a block and three steals on the defensive end.
Curry went to the bench early in the fourth, with the Pacers down by four. The guard had a chance to spend ample time resting before entering with six minutes left, where the lead remained at four for Golden State. Not capitalizing on that stretch doomed the blue-and-gold.
The Pacers weren’t much better from deep than the Warriors were. A 7-for-29 performance on a night that saw them get dominated down low won’t get the job done. No Pacer starter shot better than 33.3% from three.
The struggles from the arc helped fuel the back-and-forth nature of the game. Both teams struggled to get into a rhythm, and if they did, they weren’t hitting any three-pointers to go on a major run.
Domantas Sabonis had an excellent first half with 17 points and 10 rebounds on 6-8 shooting from the field but struggled to get to his spots in the second half. He only took four shots in the second half, two of which were three-pointers. Malcolm Brogdon took 20 shots and made 10, but was empty from three. Myles Turner and Doug McDermott joined them in double-figures with 14 and 15, respectively.