(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) – Indiana Pacers (15-14) use dominating second quarter to defeat the Golden State Warriors (14-15) 125-119 The win for Indiana puts them back over the .500 mark.
In the opening quarter for Indiana, they fell behind quickly because of their slow start offensively. They trailed by nine at 20-11 because the two-time MVP Stephen Curry was making every shot he put up. Curry converted his first five shots including a pair of three’s and three free throws. He would miss his next two shots and pickup two fouls and leave the court with a 22-18 lead. Indiana would narrow their deficit to one at 27-26 after the first twelve minutes. Curry led all scorers with 15 points, more than he had in 38 minutes of action 9 days ago against the Pacers. Indiana’s leading scorer was Buddy Hield with nine.
The second quarter for Indiana will go down as one of the best quarters on the season. Indiana would score the most points in a quarter against the Warriors this season along with the fourth most points in a quarter in franchise history. It was a barrage of three-pointers for Indiana as they drilled NINE in the quarter on thirteen attempts. Most of those were because of Tyrese Haliburton sinking four. He led all scorers in the quarter with 17. Curry played the last 7:37 for Golden State and picked up where he left off in the first with a dozen. Indiana would score a total of 47 points and amass 74 in the half (also most points in a half by a Golden State opponent). Golden State would score 28 points in the quarter and trail by 20 at intermission. Curry led all scorers with 27, Haliburton had 20, and Myles Turner had 14.
After playing one of their best quarters of the season, the Pacers followed it up with a not so good third quarter. Hield knocked down a three to start the quarter and then Golden State went on a 14-0 run to get within ten points. The run-in total for the Warriors was 19-4 to cut that twenty-point halftime deficit to five. Curry would reach double figures for a third consecutive quarter with 11 but left early after injuring his left shoulder and would not return. He would finish the night with 38 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists. After three quarters, Indiana would hold onto a six-point lead at 93-87.
Quarter number four was very comparable to the first twelve minutes. The two teams would exchange baskets but neither team could really string together multiple stops while making shots during that same stretch. With Curry out, JaMychal Green would fill his void by coming off the bench with 15 fourth quarter points by converting three of his four three pointer’s. Donte DiVincenzo added in ten points, leaving seven points for the other four players that played. On the Indiana side of things, they had eight players score in the final quarter with Turner scoring the most with seven. Golden State would make it a one possession game at 122-119, but Indiana would come up with some stops defensively with their shot not falling.
TOP PERFORMERS: Steph Curry (38p, 7r, 7a), Tyrese Haliburton (29p, 6a), Bennedict Mathurin (24p, 6r), Myles Turner (21p), and Jordan Poole (20p, 5a). For tonight’s full box score, click here.
NOTES: Indiana forced 23 Golden State turnovers. The Pacers were +34 with Bennedict Mathurin on the floor. Draymond Green was ejected after receiving a pair of technical fouls in the fourth quarter and was held to a season low 1 point with 6 turnovers. Golden State has the second worst road record in the league at 2-13. Indiana sweeps the season series against the Warriors for the first time since 2017-2018 season.
NEXT UP: Pacers hit the road for a one-game road trip against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7:30pm with the Kroger Pregame Show with Pay Boylan starting at 7pm.
