This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Indiana Pacers.
Golden State took a 79-60 lead into the second half.
3rd Quarter – Starters Take Lead To 30
The Warriors maintained their large cushion to start things out in the second half, as Andrew Bogut got three consecutive alley-oop dunks from the Big Three of Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry.
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But things weren’t all rosy, as a Bogut laser pass down low to Brandon Rush was the team’s fifth turnover of the quarter, while the Pacers had four turnovers.
Rush made a three from the left corner assisted by Thompson and Pacers head coach Frank Vogel took a timeout with 6:16 to go in the third, with Golden State up, 90-70.
Out of the timeout, it was Thompson’s turn (again) as he drained two threes…
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…Bogut got a banker tip-in putback to fall, his 11th and 12th points to go along with 10 rebounds, Klay then dribbled the ball down the left side and turned and spun for another jumper (his 38th and 39th points), and George Hill turned the ball over to Andre Iguodala, and Curry finished the foot race to the rim.
Vogel took another timeout as the Warriors took a 102-74 lead with 3:30 to play.
Out of the timeout, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton designed a play for the hot Thompson, but he missed a three on a catch-and-shoot coming off a high screen.
After Curry hit a righty shot put in the lane with the harm for an “and-one”, Voget called another timeout with 2:38 remaining.
Thompson added his sixth assist of the night as he caught the ball at the high post, took a dribble or two, and lofted an alley-oop to Festus Ezeli for a two-handed dunk to give Golden State a 107-77 lead.
With under a minute to play, Ezeli got a feed down low but was fouled. He had seen Klay too late, wide open at the top, and Festus dished the ball to Thompson after the whistle.
Thompson made the three, but obviously it did not count, and still would have been one short of the NBA record of twelve by Donyell Marshall.
With 56.6 seconds to go, Shaun Livingston subbed in for Klay, who seemd to have finished with 39 points on 13-for-18 shooting and an astonishing 10-for-14 from beyond the arc.
Curry finished the quarter by driving into the lane, drawing two Pacers, and slipping the ball to Ezeli for a dunk. Steph then missed a triple as the Warriors took a 109-77 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Bench Unit Fails, Klay Sprains Ankle
The bench unit let the Warriors down this time around, as a lineup of Livingston, Ian Clark, Rush, Andre Iguodala, and Ezeli combined to go 4-for-13 from the field.
After C.J. Miles hit his fifth three to give him 24 points on the night, the Pacers had halved the Warriors’ lead to 121-105, although Rush did make two treys in a row in the midst of not being able to stop the Pacers on the other end.
There was 5:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, Walton called timeout, and brought back Curry, Thompson, and Green, going with the “small ball” lineup with Livingston and Iguodala.
A George three and a bucket by Ellis closed the Pacers to within 11 points at 123-112, but Curry went with a crossover behind-the-back left-to-right step-back and drained the jumper…
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…then Green got a tip-in of Curry’s missed three after George responded going down the lane with a banker that trickled in.
With 2:37 to play, Golden State had a 127-114 lead.
Solomon Hill came alive for Indiana , getting a layup in transition after Thompson, Ellis, and Curry missed consecutive shots.
Then after Klay missed a shot and the ball went out on the sideline by the Pacers, Thompson threw the ball poorly on the inbound, but George took too much time, down 9 points, to shoot a three, although Hill got the offensive rebound and was fouled by Green.
Later, Chase Budinger missed a shot but got a putback to drop plus the foul and, worse, Thompson stepped on Livingston’s foot on the play and subbed himself out, limping badly.
Down just 127-120, Budinger missed the free throw, Hill tracked the rebound down again, and Miles missed a three back-iron that could have changed the game.
Curry got the rebound and got fouled, but missed one of the free throws, two nights after missing three free throws in a row against the Brooklyn Nets.
Indiana couldn’t get anything to drop and Steph came back with a nail-in-the-coffin layup down the left side that trickled in off board and rim, and the Warriors seemed to have it wrapped up, up 129-122, with just 24.8 seconds remaining.
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Green complained to the referee about Hill pushing off on a previous miss and the official called a technical, bringing the Pacers to within two possessions before Curry shot his free throws.
Ellis threw the ball away on the next play, killing any hopes of a miracle comeback for the Pacers, Curry was fouled again and again missed one of two free throws, but it was all academic by then as Golden State survived the scare, 131-123.
The re-entry allowed Curry to finish with 29 points and George finished with 33.
The Warriors (23-0) will now travel to Boston to face the Celtics in three nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @jrhildebrand)
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