Warriors at Pacers
The Golden State Warriors seek to continue their historic run while the host Indiana Pacers want to keep surging towards the playoffs when the teams meet Sunday. The Warriors increased their lead atop the Western Conference standings to 4 1/2 games over Memphis with a convincing 110-99 victory over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Friday, while the Pacers won for the fifth time in six games with an easy win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Stephen Curry led the way for Golden State with 25 points and 11 assists, the team shot 17-of-33 from the arc and the defense forced 16 turnovers and limited the Spurs to 6-of-19 from the arc. "It's pretty simple for us. Defend like crazy, take care of the ball, and move the ball," Spurs first-year coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "When we do that, we have enough weapons to score enough. That's it. It's a pretty simple game." Indiana is playing its best ball of the season but only one of its five wins during the hot streak has been against a team with better than a .500 record.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, FSN indiana, CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (43-9): Golden State has won four straight and seven of eight and is playing the first of six straight road games during a stretch of 10 of 11 away from home. Curry has scored at least 20 points in 11 straight games – tied for the longest such streak of his career. The Warriors rank third offensively in points per 100 possessions (111.6) and first defensively (100.5).
ABOUT THE PACERS (22-33): Rodney Stuckey scored a season-high 30 points off the bench before heading to the locker room late with a sprained left ankle as Indiana buried Philadelphia 106-95. Stuckey’s points were just one shy of the team’s season high of 31, set by Donald Sloan on Nov. 5. "I just thought I could be more aggressive coming off the bench because we have a lot of scorers in the first unit with David West, George Hill and Big Roy [Hibbert]," said Stuckey, whose status is doubtful against the Warriors. "So I just thought I'd come off the bench and try to give that second unit some energy."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Golden State has 32 double-digit victories, tied for the most in franchise history (1975-76).
2. Indiana has now committed 15 or fewer turnovers in nine consecutive games.
3. Curry has seven games of at least 25 points and 10 assists this season, one more than James Harden and Russell Westbrook, and the Warriors are 10-0 when he has assisted on 25 or more points in a game.