Warriors Vs. Pacers 1/12/2021

The Pacers were coming off of a rough 5 point loss to the Kings in a close game with 21 lead changes and Harrison Barnes scoring 30 points for the Kings. The Pacers were 6-4 and were being led by Victor Oladipo, Damontas Sabonis, and Malcolm Brogdon who were averaging 20, 22.2, and 23.5 points. Oladipo being out presented a challenge considering he’d been averaging 20. The Pacers were 7th in the league in scoring and the Warriors were 11th. The Warriors were going into this game coming off a nice win against the Raptors in which Stephen Curry had only 11 points yet the rest of the team was still able to pull out a nice win. To win this game the Warriors needed to keep up the good defense and needed Curry to bounce back with a 25+ point game. No Eric Paschall presented a challenge for the Warriors because he had been a spark off of the bench. To the game!

The Warriors got a 24 second violation to start the game. Myles Turner made a 3 for the first points of the game. From the 6 and a half minute mark to the 4 and a half minute mark the Warriors went on a 12-2 run. At 3:00 Stephen Curry missed 2 free throws and still hadn’t scored a point. Stephen Curry finally scored his first points with an and 1 floater at around the 2 minute mark. To end the quarter Andrew Wiggins made a 3 to give the Warriors a 28-19 lead. After the first quarter Kelly Oubre Jr. was leading the Warriors with 7 points in 7 minutes. The first quarter was a very defense oriented quarter considering there were only a total of 47 points scored in the quarter and the leading score for both teams had 8 points. The shooting splits were 55% from 2 and 28.6% from 3 for the Warriors and 33.3% from 2 and 18.2% from 3 for the Pacers.

The 2nd quarter started off with Edmond Sumner making a layup. The Pacers took a lead with around 8 to go in the 2nd quarter with 2 free throws from Cassius Stanley. The Warriors then took back the lead with a 3 from Oubre. The Warriors went on a 16-7 run to help them take a 9 point lead with 4 minutes to go in the half. James Wiseman picked up his 4th foul with a minute to go in the first half. Draymond Green ended the half by missing a half court shot. After the first half the Warriors were winning 57-50 after a nice quarter from the second unit and Damion Lee. The Warriors second unit had 14 points in the first half and the Pacers second unit had 16. Kelly Oubre Jr. was leading the Warriors in points after the first half. Stephen Curry did not play very well in the first quarter only scoring 7 points in about 17 minutes. The Warriors as a whole shot 47.6% from the field and 33.3% from deep and we’re able to hold the Pacers to 40.9% from 2 and 26.7% from 3. Both teams played pretty good defense during the first half. The biggest lead for either team during the first half was 9 points. Showing that it was a very close game during the first half. To the second half we go!

To start of the 2nd half Malcolm Brogdon made a 3 pointer to make the score 57-53. The Pacers had a three on one against Draymond Green on a fast break but were unable to score. James Wiseman got his fifth foul on a blocking foul with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. The Pacers took a 65-64 lead on a layup from Edmond Sumner. Stephen Curry made a three to give the Warriors a 68-65 lead. To end the quarter Stephen Curry missed a full court shot. After the third-quarter the Warriors were leading 75-73. In the third quarter of the Warriors had seven turnovers. They were shooting 44.3% from the field and 32.1% from three. The Pacers on the other hand shot 41.2% from the field and 25% from three. James Wiseman had five fouls after the third quarter. Going into the 4th quarter it was anybody’s game.

To start off the fourth quarter James Wiseman made a put back dunk. Myles Turner made a layup to give the Pacers a 2 point lead. Mychal Mulder made a corner three to give the Warriors a 88-85 lead with 5 1/2 minutes to go. Myles Turner made a 3 with three minutes left to give the Pacers a 93-90 lead. Damontas Sabonis made a layup to give the Pacers the first double-digit lead of the game. The Pacers went on a 13-0 run near the end of the game. The Warriors lost 104-95 to end the homestand.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: To end the game the Pacers went on a 13-0 run led by the Damontis Sabonis and was powered by James Wiseman being taken out after getting into foul trouble late. In my opinion one of the main reasons that the Warriors lost this game was the fact that Eric Paschall was out due to Covid protocols. Without Eric Paschall and with the fact that James Wiseman got into foul trouble early, Myles Turner and Damontis Sabonis were able to score a combined 40 points and get a combined 25 rebounds. Though Victor Oladipo was out the Pacers were able to make up for it with nice games from Myles Turner an Damontas Sabonis. It was also pretty tough for the Warriors because Myles Turner and Aaron Holiday were making threes consistently. The Pacers defense was also essential to their win against the Warriors holding them to 95 points. On the bright side for the Warriors, Damion Lee had a nice game scoring 12 points. Stephen Curry only scored 20 points and missed multiple free throws which was also a problem for the Warriors. The shooting splits for the Pacers were 44.3% from the field and 32.1% from three. The shooting splits for the Warriors on the other hand were 38.6% from the field and 34.2% from deep. I feel like those shooting splits definitely showed how many shots the Warriors missed inside the paint because 38.6% from the field is just not going to cut it. Overall this was a disappointing loss to end the homestand but I feel the Warriors defense showed growth.