INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Dunleavy and the Warriors constructed sufficient depth within the offseason to face up to accidents, at the very least on paper. However for those who confirmed anybody in Golden State’s entrance workplace their lively roster on Friday evening, they could have puzzled if there was a brand new infectious illness ravaging their locker room.
Golden State began Dennis Schroder, Lindy Waters III, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The Warriors activated two-way Quinten Publish as a tenth participant and concerned each Gui Santos and Pat Spencer within the recreation plan.
With that form of personnel, they wanted a miracle.
Steph Curry and Draymond Inexperienced sat, because the Warriors deal with the veterans with warning on the second evening of a back-to-back. Andrew Wiggins is house for private causes (although his absence isn’t anticipated to be lengthy). Jonathan Kuminga is out for at the very least two extra weeks with a foul ankle sprain, and Brandin Podziemski remains to be coping with an belly pressure.
Golden State hung round for 3 quarters, however bought run off the ground when the Pacers locked in for the fourth. Admirable effort alone wasn’t sufficient for the Warriors within the 108-96 loss.
“Shorthanded, back-to-back, guys did a great job of hanging in there,” Steve Kerr stated postgame. “We just needed to have a little stretch, make three or four 3s in a row to get over the hump. I think it was 86-81, we’re right there. But they took care of business, knocked down some shots.”
Spencer impressed with a career-high 17 factors off the bench, and Hield matched him. However they had been no match for the Pacers’ All-Star caliber trio of Tyrese Haliburton (25 factors, 10 assists), Pascal Siakam (25 factors, 11 rebounds) and Myles Turner (11 factors, seven rebounds, three blocks). After splitting the primary half of their four-game street journey, the Warriors (19-19) are again at .500.
For a second straight evening, Santos supplied a elevate off the bench. He hustled again on protection for a back-tap steal, made a number of sensible cuts off the ball and swarmed in defensive rotations.
Spencer, too, made an influence. The opposite Warrior sometimes sitting on the top of the bench, Spencer scored seven fast factors, setting his general profession excessive within the first quarter alone.
However feel-good contributions aren’t almost sufficient to beat a rock-solid crew just like the Pacers. Indiana had gained 10 of its final 13 video games coming into Friday evening, turning the nook after a sluggish begin to the season.
The Warriors racked up deflections, offensive rebounds and compelled turnovers. They’d a number of hustle factors, however not a number of scoreboard factors. In actual fact, they went a seven-minute stretch with simply two factors, permitting Indiana to stretch its result in 14. However Golden State chipped away within the final three minutes to enter halftime down 5.
Even after a scoreless 4:30 within the third quarter, the Warriors hung round. Hield scored back-to-back buckets and Santos canned a wing 3. Publish drew the protection’s consideration as a screener in his first motion outdoors rubbish time this season. Early within the fourth, the rookie and Schroder labored a two-man recreation for his first profession 3-pointer.
“It was fun getting Quinten some real minutes,” Kerr stated. “To see him come out there and space the floor — you see what the impact is of having a space big. You just go pick-and-pop and all of the sudden the whole lane opens up. That’s a nice look for us. It’s something we don’t normally have. We’re generating a lot of our offense through our movement, split cuts and all that. But yeah, if Quinten can develop, he could be a real threat for us and give us a totally different look offensively.”
With a fast burst, although, Indiana lastly separated. Pascal Siakam broke away for consecutive dunks — one off a Schroder turnover and one other after Schroder bought stuffed on the rim. On the primary turnover, Schroder appeared to twist his ankle.
These dunks had been a part of an 8-0 Indiana blitz that put the Pacers up 13, and it stayed snug the remainder of the way in which. The Warriors had hung robust and so they performed with delight, however the expertise disparity was too drastic.
Initially Revealed: January 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM PST
