Warriors meet league’s best defense in Pacers
By Greg Chin
Unstoppable force meet immovable object.
The Golden State Warriors, who are second in the league in points scored per game will do battle against an Indiana Pacers squad that allows the least number of points per game in the league. The Pacers allow just 96.1 points per game, but the Warriors have been on a tear recently, scoring 121.4 points per game in their past five home matches.
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The Warriors are riding high on their 14-game winning streak at home, and a win will equal the longest win-streak at home for the franchise.
The Pacers, on the other hand, are looking to close out their four-game road trip at Oracle Arena. They’ve gone 2-1 after a close win against the Utah Jazz, but have been struggling this season due to a slate of injuries to key personnel, with superstar Paul George out due to a broken leg.
On paper, it looks like an easy win for the Warriors. The Dubs are the league’s best defensive rating team (which measures a team’s defensive ability over 100 possessions), and are fourth in the league in offensive rating. They will look to push the tempo at every opportunity, whereas the Pacers are in the bottom ten of the league for the number of possessions over 48 minutes.
Continuing the style of contrasting themes, the Pacers are fourth best in the league at limiting opposing team’s three-point makes. They allow just 6.6 three-point field goals per game, whereas the Warriors make 9.9 three-point field goals per game.
The key matchup here will be between Pacers’ center Roy Hibbert and Warriors’ stand-in center Marreese Speights. Hibbert will have the size advantage, but showed in the Eastern Conference first round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks that he struggles against big men who can stretch the floor. Speights will have to be on target early with his jump shots, which will either force the Pacers to swap out Hibbert (who is arguably their best player) or force Hibbert to respect Speights, which will reduce his presence at protecting the rim.
Tale of the Tape:
Warriors
- Points per game: 108.9 (2nd)
- Field-goal percentage: 48.3% (1st)
- Three-point percentage: 37.9 (3rd)
- Defensive field-goal percentage: 41.8% (1st)
- Rebounds per game: 45.3 (6th)
- Turnovers: 15.6 (26th)
Pacers
- Points per game: 94.9 (26th)
- Field-goal percentage: 43.1% (27th)
- Three-point percentage: 34.4 (19th)
- Defensive field-goal percentage: 44.2% (7th)
- Rebounds per game: 44.9 (7th)
- Turnovers: 14.1 (T-11th)
Injury Report
GSW: Festus Ezeli (mild left ankle sprain), Andrew Bogut (right knee chondromalacia/bone edema) are out. Brandon Rush (flu-like symptoms) is listed as day-to-day.
IND: C.J. Watson (foot) is out. George Hill (groin) is listed as day-to-day.
Probable Starters
GOLDEN STATE (27-5)
- F Harrison Barnes (10.9 PPG)
- F Draymond Green (12.1 PPG)
- C Marreese Speights (12.4 PPG)
- G Klay Thompson (21.0 PPG)
- G Stephen Curry (23.0 PPG)
INDIANA
- F Chris Copeland (8.8 PPG)
- F David West (11.9 PPG)
- C Roy Hibbert (11.6 PPG)
- G Rodney Stuckey (11.8 PPG)
- G Donald Sloan (10.1 PPG)
Game Info
Tip-off: 7:30 PM PST
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
TV: NBATV