If a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks without Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't embarrassing enough for the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, it just got a whole lot worse with a crushing 114-109 defeat to the previously winless Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
The Warriors led by as much as 11 in the fourth-quarter, yet gave up a 21-5 run to close the game against a Pacers team without star guard Tyrese Haliburton and a host of major rotation players due to injury.
Warriors suffer further embarrassment in horror loss to Pacers
Aaron Nesmith went for a season-best 31 points and Pascal Siakam had 27 points, five rebounds and three assists, but it was two-way contracted guard Quenton Jackson who was the unlikeliest of heroes for the hosts.
Two days after giving up a career-high 32 points and eight assists to Ryan Rollins, the Warriors inexplicably let Jackson go for 25 points and 10 assists that included the game-sealing jump-shot over Draymond Green.
Jackson legitimately outplayed Golden State superstar Stephen Curry, having also done an excellent job in limiting the 2x MVP who finished with just 22 points on 8-of-22 shooting and 4-of-15 from 3-point range while committing five turnovers.
After the Pacers opened the second-half on a 12-3 run to take a six-point lead, Jimmy Butler wrestled momentum back for the Warriors with some massive plays that had them set up for victory mid-way through the fourth.
The 6x All-Star had 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, but the advantage quickly evaporated as the short-handed Pacers took advantage of their momentum in the final minutes. Both teams shot the ball relatively poorly, with Indiana making five more free-throws and Golden State crucially committing another 16 turnovers.
Jonathan Kuminga had some more highlight dunks to finish with 17 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Brandin Podziemski had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor.
In reality there were no positives for the Warriors who continued to look largely lackluster following a tough schedule to open the season, though there's no excuse given only De'Anthony Melton remains unavailable from their main roster.
While Golden State started the week with impressive wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Indiana Pacers, they've now been completely mitigated by a pair of the worst losses they may suffer this season. They'll look to get back on track with an upcoming back-to-back, starting with a matchup with the Phoenix Suns at Chase Center on Tuesday.