Warriors Vs. Pacers 2/24/2021

The Pacers went into this game after their last 2 games going to overtime and winning 3 of their last 4 games. The Pacers also had 6 days of rest due to COVID-19 so they had a bit of an advantage there. The Warriors on the contrary were playing their second game of a back-to-back. The Warriors were coming off of a nice win over the Knicks. These 2 teams played earlier this season and in that game the Pacers won 104-95. This was also Damontas Sabonis’ first game after being snubbed from the all star game so maybe he would channel that frustration to a nice game and prove those voters wrong. It was lucky that the Warriors got back their centers in time for this game because the Pacers have 2 great power forward/centers. For the Pacers to win they needed to have a nice game out of Sabonis, outrebound the Warriors by a bunch, and stop Stephen Curry. For the Warriors to win they needed to stop Sabonis, rebound well, and Curry likely needed to have a nice game. Would Sabonis and the Pacers be able to take advantage of their rest or would the Warriors be able to win both games of their back-to-back? To the game!

The Warriors won the tip which led to a Justin Holiday 3 after multiple defensive stops from the Pacers. At 10:42 Andrew Wiggins got a 3 point play to give the Warriors their first points of the game. Throughout the heart of first quarter the Warriors and Pacers kept exchanging leads. The largest lead either team had from the start of the quarter to 2:25 was 4 points. At 2:25 Stephen Curry made a layup to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. To end the quarter T.J. McConnell stole the inbound which led to an Edmond Sumner layup. At the end of the first quarter the Warriors were leading 25-22. The Warriors and Pacers played pretty evenly in the first quarter. The Warriors had 2 more assists, 2 more rebounds, 2 fewer steals, and 3 fewer fouls than the Pacers in the first quarter. The Warriors and Pacers also had an equal amount of blocks and turnovers as each other. Both teams shot decently and the Warriors shot 43.5% from the field and an atrocious 16.7% from 3. The Pacers shot 42.9% from the field and a terrible 20% from deep. Neither team had missed a free throw either. The leading scorers were Kelly Oubre Jr. with 8 points for the Warriors and Malcolm Brogdon with 6 points for the Pacers. In the second quarter the Warriors hoped to take a larger lead and the Pacers hoped to take the lead and go on a nice run.

To start the 2nd quarter Sabonis made 2 free throws to make it a 1 point game. At 11:08 Eric Paschall made 2 free throws to give the Warriors their first points of the quarter. The rest of the second quarter consisted of many lead changes similar to the first quarter. It was definitely a back and forth half. At halftime the Pacers were leading 58-56. Damontas Sabonis was playing extremely well at halftime with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Stephen Curry was playing well for the Warriors with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. Steph got a bloody nose in the 2nd quarter after being accidentally hit in the face. The Warriors and Pacers were still playing pretty evenly at halftime. The Warriors had 3 more rebounds, 2 fewer steals, 1 more block, 1 more turnover, and 4 fewer fouls than the Pacers at halftime. The Warriors and Pacers also had the same amount of assists as each other. The Pacers were shooting well at halftime with 51.2% from the field and 21.4% from 3 point range. The Warriors on the other hand shot 42.6% from the field and 12.5% from deep. Both teams played well in the first half and hoped to take a nice lead and gain momentum in the third quarter. To the third!

To start the 3rd quarter Justin Holiday made a 3 which gave the Pacers a 5 point lead. At 10:46 Andrew Wiggins made 2 free throws to give the Warriors their first points of the quarter. At 8:27 Stephen Curry made a layup to tie the game but Malcolm Brogdon followed up with a layup of his own. Then at 5:17 Kent Bazemore made a 3 to give the Warriors the lead. At 3:43 Myles Turner made a couple of free throws to help the Pacers retake the lead. Then at 3:20 James Wiseman made an alley oop layup to give the Warriors the lead. At 2:54 Malcolm Brogdon made an alley oop layup of his own. Then Kelly Oubre Jr. made a 3 to help the Warriors quickly retake the lead. At Kelly Oubre Jr. made a dunk to give the Warriors a 6 point lead. Then with 54.3 seconds left in the game T.J. McConnell got a 3 point play after intercepting the inbound from the Warriors. To end the quarter Draymond Green made a layup which gave the Warriors an 84-80 lead going into the 4th quarter. At the end of the third quarter the leading scorers were Stephen Curry and Damontas Sabonis with 20 and 21 points respectively. The Warriors played well in the third quarter and had 5 more assists, 6 more rebounds, 4 fewer steals, 2 fewer blocks, and 2 fewer fouls than the Pacers at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Warriors and Pacers also had an equal amount of turnovers as each other. The Warriors shot 44.8% from the field and a terrible 17.4% from 3 after the 3rd quarter. The Pacers shot 46% from the field and a rough 20% from downtown. In the 4th quarter the Warriors hoped to be able to close out the game and smoothly get the win and the Pacers hoped to gain momentum and get the win.

To start the 4th quarter Jeremy Lamb made a 3 to cut it to a 1 point game. At 10:49 Brad Wanamaker made a layup to give the Warriors their first points of the quarter. Doug McDermott quickly followed that up with a 3 to tie the game for the Pacers. At Damion Lee made a corner 3 to give them a 3 point lead. At 8:57 James Wiseman fouled out which got Juan Toscano-Anderson into the game. At 8:21 Sabonis made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game for the Pacers. At 7:41 Eric Paschall made a layup to give the Warriors the lead. Then McDermott and Wanamaker traded layups. At 6:34 Sabonis got a technical foul after fouling Eric Paschall. Wanamaker made the technical free throw and then Paschall made 1 of 2 free throws. At 5:49 Paschall made a layup to give the Warriors a 5 point lead. At 1:26 McDermott made a 3 to cut the deficit to 4 points. Then at 1:04 Eric Paschall had a monster dunk to help the Warriors retake a 6 point lead. Luckily for the Warriors they were able to close out the game and get the win in crunch time. The Warriors won 111-107.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: This was a great win for the Warriors especially since it was against an East playoff team in the Pacers. Stephen Curry helped lead the Warriors to the win with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. Draymond Green also played well and was a rebound a from a triple double with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and a block. Damontas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon played well for the Pacers with a combined 46 points, 19 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and a block. The Warriors ended up with 7 more assists, 2 more rebounds, 1 fewer steal, 2 fewer blocks, 1 fewer turnover, and 3 more fouls than the Pacers. The Warriors shot a little bit better than the Pacers with 47% from the field, 19.2% from downtown, and 90.3% from the free throw line. The Pacers shot 45.7% from the field, 24.1% from 3, and 81.2% from the free throw line. Both teams also played amazingly on defense in this game. Neither team shot well from 3 point range though so it was impressive that they scored as many points as they did. This was a nice way to avenge their loss to the Pacers from earlier this season. Overall, this was a great win and a very well played game for the Warriors.