Pacers at Warriors
Whatever brief malaise the Golden State Warriors found themselves in a week ago has completely disappeared. The Warriors will try to post their third straight victory by 30-plus points when they return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Golden State dropped two of three games last week and began its three-game road trip with a 113-95 setback at Detroit on Saturday before crushing the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls by a combined 65 points. “That was beautiful basketball, especially against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton told reporters after Wednesday’s 125-94 demolition of the Bulls. The Pacers were playing like one of the best teams in the NBA when they lost to Golden State on Dec. 8 and are not exactly at the top of their game at the moment. Indiana snapped a three-game slide by gutting out a 97-94 win over lowly Phoenix on Tuesday and has dropped three of its last four road games.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Indiana, CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE PACERS (23-19): Indiana allowed the Warriors to shoot 54.7 percent and fell behind by as much as 32 points in the third quarter before fighting back to make it a respectable 131-123 setback in the first meeting. The Pacers were just happy to get a win on Tuesday, no matter what the competition was, after surrendering an average of 116.7 points in three consecutive losses. “That was our main focus today; we had to get back to playing defense,” guard Monta Ellis told reporters. “We use our defense to lead our offense and we set the tempo at the beginning of the game, and we were able to get out and run and make some shots and get a comfortable lead so when they make their run we’re able to still hold them off and close them out.”
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (39-4): Golden State handed LeBron James the worst loss of his career on Monday and gave the Bulls their largest home loss since 2009 on Wednesday, cementing once again their status as the top team in the league with a showdown against the San Antonio Spurs looming on Monday. The Warriors totaled 71 assists and 18 turnovers in the last two games and were a model of efficiency at the offensive end against two of the best defensive teams in the East. Small forward Harrison Barnes, who returned to the starting lineup with a 2-of-11 effort from the field against Detroit, found his form with the top unit by going 12-of-21 against Chicago and Cleveland.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers G George Hill (personal) missed the last two games and was ruled out for Friday.
2. Warriors G/F Andre Iguodala is averaging 15 points on 11-of-15 shooting in the last two games.
3. Golden State has taken three of the last four in the series.