Pacers at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers are both trying to hang onto a spot in their respective conferences as the playoffs loom. The Warriors will try to hold onto the No. 1 spot in the West on Thursday when they host the Pacers, who are fighting for homecourt advantage in the first round in the East.
Golden State closed out a 3-1 road trip with a 117-107 win at Minnesota on Tuesday, bouncing back from a 111-105 setback in San Antonio the previous night and pushing its lead over the Denver Nuggets to a half-game entering play on Wednesday. "Last year, I think the final 20 games, we kind of knew we were going to be the 2-seed," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "It's a little different this year, and I think it's going to help us prepare for the playoffs." The Pacers already lost their grip on the No. 3 seed in the East and are trying to hold off the Boston Celtics for the No. 4 spot but dropped the first three of the four-game trip at Denver, Portland and the Los Angeles Clippers. Indiana, which returns home to face host the Nuggets on Sunday before road dates at Oklahoma City and Boston next week, will not play a team that is out of contention until visiting Atlanta for the regular-season finale on April 10.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE PACERS (44-28): Indiana dropped the first three games of the trip by an average of 5.3 points and pointed to turnovers as the difference in Tuesday's 115-109 setback at the Clippers. "I thought the effort was there, but the sharpness was not," Pacers head coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "You can't have 20 turnovers this time a year and expect to win a game." Indiana shot 51.6 percent from the field in the loss and had three reserves score in double figures as shooting guard Tyreke Evans scored 19 points and power forward Domantas Sabonis continued a solid run with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (48-22): Superstar point guard Stephen Curry went 9-of-25 from the floor in Monday's loss at San Antonio, including 6-of-18 from 3-point range, but broke out of the slump on Tuesday. Curry scored 22 of 36 points in the third quarter and went 8-of-14 from beyond the arc against the Timberwolves. "Do people think he's struggling or something? I don't get it," Golden State shooting guard Klay Thompson told reporters of Curry. "He's playing phenomenal. He's the engine that makes us go."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors PF Jonas Jerebko scored 18 points on Tuesday - his highest total since pouring in 23 against Dallas on Dec. 22.
2. Pacers PG Darren Collison (right quad) sat out Tuesday and is questionable for Thursday.
3. Golden State breezed to a 132-100 victory at Indiana on Jan. 28.