Warriors Close Trip with Win Despite Poor Shooting
On a roadtrip of down-to-the-wire affairs, Wednesday was no different.
This time, however, instead of frantically picking up two technicals, Draymond Green calmly knocked down a pair of foul shots with seven seconds left to ice the game.
The Golden State Warriors (18-15) took down the Indiana Pacers (15-15) 111-107 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, ending Golden State’s time away from the Chase Center at 2-2. The contest was Indiana’s first game in a week after winter storms and COVID-19 protocols from other teams prevented it from playing.
Green ended the night one rebound shy of a triple-double, with 12 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists – his 10th game of the campaign with double-digit assists.
Both sides had abysmal long-range shooting nights, with the Warriors and the Pacers shooting 5-of-26 and 7-of-29 from beyond the arc, respectively. Golden State’s 19.2% 3-point shooting was its worst in a game this season, with its best outside shooter headlining the fultility.
Stephen Curry ended 1-of-11 from three in what was his worst 3-pt shooting game of the season, but finished the contest with eight rebounds, eight assists and 24 points – tied with guard Malcolm Brogdon for the game high.
Curry came out of the locker room 0-of-4 from distance, and 7:50 in the game had transpired until a Warrior not named Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins scored, with Curry breaking his cold start with a triple.
Oubre finished the night with 17 points and five assists while Wiggins chipped in 15 for Golden State. Good defense from the fourth quarter Tuesday at Madison Square Garden carried over to the start of Wednesday’s contest, but sloppiness highlighted by a James Wiseman turnover on an inbound play trimmed the Warrior lead to 25-22 through a quarter of play.
Eric Paschall and Wiseman had some offensive success in the first half off of the bench, combining for 13 points until Wiseman was lifted with 8:02 left in the second period with three fouls. Wiseman would foul out of the game in the early fourth quarter with 11 points, while Paschall ended the night with a bench-leading baker’s dozen in scoring.
Curry also took a hand to the face from center Myles Turner and needed his nose plugged up with cotton, but still scored 15 first-half points, as many as Indiana big Domantas Sabonis notched in the second quarter alone as the Pacers took a 56-54 lead into the break.
Halfway through the third, Golden State was stuck at just a pair of triples on the contest, knotted up with the home side at 69 points apiece.
Draymond Green then leaned on cutting wings and Wiseman, dishing out assists on five straight Warrior baskets for a stretch in the third quarter and scoring the final bucket of the period to give Golden State a four-point advantage heading into crunchtime – a part of games that has been touch and go during the roadtrip. Indiana got into the bonus less than halfway into the fourth quarter, but key defensive stops and rebounds closed the game amidst Curry’s struggles.
The Warriors will have a chance to secure their first three-game win streak on the season, taking on the Hornets on Friday in San Francisco.