Warriors at Pacers
The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of matching the second-longest winning streak in NBA history but may be looking at their biggest challenge. The Warriors will try to make it 27 straight wins dating back to last season when they visit the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday.
Golden State improved to 4-0 on its seven-game road trip with a 114-98 win at Brooklyn on Sunday after escaping Toronto with a three-point triumph the previous night, and Stephen Curry continues to put on a show. The reigning MVP is averaging 34.5 points and is 26-of-43 from 3-point range over the first four games of the trip, with a pair of 40-point performances thrown in. The Pacers have their own superstar in Paul George, who bounced back from a lackluster performance in Portland by pouring in a career-high 48 points in a 122-119 setback at Utah on Saturday that closed out a 2-2 road trip. Indiana recovered from a 17-point deficit to force overtime before falling to the Jazz and are 1-2 in December after an 11-2 November.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (22-0): Curry scored 16 of his 28 point during a third-quarter barrage on Sunday and picks his spots to dominate in nearly every game. “Steph knows he’s going to be on the court for most of the game, and he’s going to have the ball in his hands for most of the game,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters. “He can pick and choose when he wants to get aggressive and take over and when he wants to get his teammates involved. That’s his call out there, and he does a great job judging when to do both.” Curry gets plenty of help from a deep roster and Draymond Green collected 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on Sunday in his latest flirtation with a triple-double.
ABOUT THE PACERS (12-7): George had his worst game of the season at Portland on Thursday with 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting but went 15-of-27 from the floor, including 8-of-11 from 3-point range, at Utah. "It was just one of those games,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel, brushing off George’s tough game, told reporters of his star’s turnaround. “Stay aggressive, stay relentless in his attack of the basket and keep playing his pull-up game and catch-and-shoot.” The Pacers have not lost in their own building since Oct. 31 and will play five of their next six at home.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors need one win to tie the 2012-13 Miami Heat for the second-longest winning streak (27), behind the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33).
2. The Pacers won the home meeting 104-98 last season on Feb. 22 in a game Curry missed.
3. Indiana G Monta Ellis totaled eight points in the last two games.