Entering Sunday's matinee game against the Pacers, the Golden State Warriors were flying high. Sitting at 43-9, their only immediate unanswered question remained: just how high could their ceiling actually be?
This afternoon's contest promised to be anything but a casual one, featuring two teams with greatly differing styles. Seemingly, if the Warriors were able to somehow establish their uptempo, run and gun offensive style, rather than settling for playing the grinding style of the Indiana Pacers, they would likely walk away victoriously.
However, the Warriors' original game plan came crashing down when it was announced that their leader, Stephen Curry, would miss today's game. Apparently, Curry had tweaked his ankle in Friday night's contest against the Spurs (although it certainly did not prevent him from having a magical night). In today's game, Shaun Livingston would start as his replacement at the point guard position.
Unfortunately, Steph's first absence of the season proved more detrimental to Golden State than the team had hoped. The Warriors came into this afternoon's game knowing that it would not be easy. In fact, the Pacers had taken 11 of their previous 13 games against the Warriors at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. And tonight, Indiana made that 12 out of 14. However, Golden State was not completely blown out of the gym.
The two teams took the floor with different mindsets, yet one common interest: win today. Donning their home white jerseys, Golden State came storming out of the gates, scoring 38 points in the first quarter, despite the absence of their MVP point guard.
The second quarter, however, brought unrequested adversity. The Warriors' offense lacked rhythm, their defense lacked communication, and they were committing unnecessary fouls. For the aforementioned reasons, Golden State entered the break trailing by one.
Unphased by their subpar first half, the Warriors came out firing once again in the third quarter, quickly erasing their once large deficit and turning it into a five-point advantage. After a back and forth quarter, Rodney Stuckey banked in a buzzer-beating three to send Frank Vogel's Pacers to the fourth quarter with a three-point lead. Unfortunately, those type of plays became the story of the game for the Pacers, as the Warriors were never able to re-establish their dominant first quarter play.
On the whole, Golden State was in desperate need of a hero this afternoon, and they were certain that they had found that in Klay Thompson, a regular hot hand in recent games against the Pacers. On March 4th, 2014, in the Warriors' only visit to Indiana last year, Thompson hit a buzzer-beater to send his team off victoriously. Earlier this year, on January 7th at Oracle, Klay dropped 40 as the Warriors sunk the Pacers 117-102.
Although Klay had been struggling in recent weeks, he led all scorers tonight with 17 points in the first half. Lacking a supporting cast, he followed that up with 22 points in the second half, finishing with 39 overall in a losing effort.
Perhaps the greatest anomaly of the night was Golden State's perfection from the free throw line. With 20 attempts under their collective belt, the Warriors were shooting 100% on free throws. However, when it mattered most, Draymond Green split a pair from the line, which undoubtedly changed the overall complexion of the game.
In summary, the Pacers dropped the Warriors 104-98 this afternoon, handing them their 10th loss of the season. Golden State will look to rebound (no pun intended) on Tuesday night in Washington D.C.
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