After trailing for most of the night, and still down five with 90 seconds to go, the Golden State Warriors produced an unattractive but gutsy win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Though it was not a glamorous night, the Golden State Warriors traveled to Indiana and took care of business for another victory.
In an attempt to find a pattern and bounce out of an offensive lull across the past few games, Steve Kerr turned to 12 different players in the first half. It failed to bring much of an impact, the Dubs scoring just 47 points in a frustrating first half that included technicals for Kerr and Draymond Green in the opening minutes.
Plagued by turnovers and a massive free throw differential, Golden State failed to find a flow throughout the contest, trailing after every period except for when it mattered most.
With Stephen Curry carrying the weight of Ray Allen’s three-point record, and Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins struggling to provide their usual production, it was Draymond Green who was the unlikely aggressor on the offensive end.
Despite the twin towers of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, the latter of which leads the league in blocks at 2.8 per game, Green showed no fear in driving to the rim, a host of made layups an undoubted positive regardless of the result.
The Warriors’ shooting was actually, percentage-wise, reasonable throughout the game. It was just the turnovers and free throw differential that saw the Pacer lead remain at eight with 12 minutes to play.
Despite a continued push in the fourth, it appeared one of those nights for Golden State as Indiana remained on top. By the same token, the lead never got out of control from a Warrior standpoint, both teams are likely aware of the Pacers’ poor record in close games this season.
With 90 seconds to play and down five, the Dubs desperately needed a basket. Their prayers were answered when Curry, at that stage 4-13 from three, nailed one from deep to reduce the margin to two.
After a stop on the other end, Curry came up with another clutch play, this time driving to the rim and finishing nicely to tie the scores with 48.5 seconds to play. When the Warriors stood firm on defense, Curry again tried to repeat the heroics. Although his three-point attempt misfired, the scramble for the rebound ended with Kevon Looney, his putback layup giving the Warriors the lead with 13.4 seconds to play.
There was never a greater display of the value of Gary Payton II than on the following possession. After forcing Caris LeVert to his left, the pressure eventually led to the Pacer guard stumbling and losing the ball out of bounds.
With the Pacers having no timeouts remaining, even a Green turnover wasn’t enough for them to manufacture a miracle game-winner. The Warriors finished the game on a 7-0 run and outscored the Pacers 22-16 in the fourth, allowing them to pull out a gritty 102-100 win.