This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Indiana Pacers. There was a score discrepancy among various agencies, the majority of which reported a 60-57 halftime score, but it was officially changed to a 58-57 lead for the Pacers heading into the third quarter. CJ Watson had been incorrectly credited with 5 straight free throws made in the second quarter, when he had made 3 on a fouled three-point attempt.
3RD QUARTER: (Slow-Moving) Rollercoaster!
The Warriors used some great team defense at the start of the second half, forcing the Pacers into four missed shots and three turnovers and scoring the first three buckets of the third frame to take a 63-58 lead with 7:30 to play as Indiana head coach Frank Vogel called timeout to regroup.
But a CJ Miles three-pointer and a Solomon Hill dunk forced Golden State head coach Steve Kerr to call timeout as well, with the momentum quickly changing and the Pacers evening the score at 65-65 with 6:03 to play in the quarter.
Klay Thompson then got hot, hitting a trey from the left elbow on a catch-and-shoot from Shaun Livingston, who had started the game in place of the injured Stephen Curry (“tweaked foot”), then dribbling to the left elbow and stopping and popping for another splash.
It became a mini-three-point shootout as Rodney Stuckey, who off the bench was leading the Pacers in scoring, answered with his own three, then Andre Iguodala missed a trey attempt, and CJ Miles followed that up with an errant toss from beyond the arc.
Things got more lively as Ian Mahinmi swooped past David Lee with the left hand, drew the foul, and drilled the lefty baby hook, giving Indiana a 74-71 lead with 1:38 to play.
Iguodala answered that with his own slam after Leandro Barbosa stole the ball from Stuckey, who got caught hanging in the air, then Thompson nailed another triple after Harrison Barnes led the break with a nifty behind-the-back dribble, passed the ball up to Iguodala, who attacked the paint and found Klay trailing on the right side.
But Miles went around Iguodala with the left hand and dunked it, to tie things up again, 76-76.
With 7.5 seconds remaining, Barnes received the ball up top on a cut, spun around and got the advantage on his man, taking it strong to the hole on the right side of the lane, with booming steps for a nice layup.
However, that left too much time left on the clock and Watson hurried up court, found Stuckey on the trail at the last moment, and Stuckey “stuck” the three-pointer, a banker that rattled through at the buzzer, and the Pacers took an 81-78 lead into the last period.
Thompson had scored 11 in the quarter to up his game-leading total to 28 points, while Stuckey had 9 points in the third to total 24.
4TH QUARTER: Klay Can’t Make Them All
The Warriors started the fourth quarter with Barbosa, Justin Holiday, Iguodala, Barnes and Lee.
Holiday got a layup on a feed from Barbosa, but that was sandwiched between jumpers by Scola, Watson, and forward Damjan Rudez, although a Lee putback of a miss by Barbosa cut the Dubs’ deficit to 87-82 with 8:51 to play as the teams took a break with a mandatory TV timeout.
The Warriors’ defense clawed kept them in the game, but the offense was still anemic without Curry to set the table. Draymond Green swatted a Mahinmi layup attempt, but missed the ensuing jumper on the other end. Green missed again from the paint, despite a nice feed by Lee, after Mahinmi got a dunk thanks to Stuckey scissoring through to the paint.
But Golden State kept at it and Scola turned the ball over to Iguodala, who got a dunk on the break after feeding to Holiday, who made a touch-pass right back for the assist.
Barbosa would then steal the ball from Watson on a bad pass, but missed the layup off back rim. Fortunately for the Warriors, Watson missed a three coming back, but Kerr had seen enough of the ugliness and called timeout with 6:27 to play, down 89-84, and brought Thompson back into the game.
Sure enough, Klay drilled the “ATO” (after timeout play) play, hitting a jumper assisted by Iguodala, then made two free throws running the break as Iguodala blocked Miles and led the break, giving the Warriors a slim 90-89 lead. But Iguodala missed a trey after that and Vogel called timeout to try and reset his team’s strategy closing things out and slow the pace back down.
After a Stuckey layup, a jumper by David West, and missed contested jumper by Livingston, Kerr didn’t like what he saw and called timeout as well, with the Warriors down 93-90 with 3:11 left to play.
Thompson got another look from beyond the arc, this time from the left side, on the ATO, but he missed and complained to the ref that he was slapped, to no avail, running back on defense. But the Warriors were able to get to the line, sinking all four free throws by Iguodala then Klay, but George Hill had buried a triple in the process.
Thompson’s two free throws cut the Pacers’ lead to 96-94 with 1:54 remaining.
Stuckey then drove on Klay at the top, left-to-right, and swished the pull up jumper. Thompson came back with a trey in Stuckey’s face, a catch-and-shoot from Iguodala, to close the gap to 98-97, Indiana, with 1:31 to go.
But Klay missed a critical attempt, after Hill back-rimmed a three-pointer when center Roy Hibbert found himself with the ball up top with the shotclock ticking down. Thompson had the ball, dribbled to the right elbow, jumped against two defenders, found Andrew Bogut at the last moment at the high post, who then dished back to Klay and set a nasty pick to free him, but the shot was off. TV broadcaster Jim Barnett remarked the Bogut screen was illegal and “bone-crushing”.
Indiana then had a beautiful “tic-tac-toe” play as Hill drove right baseline, dished to West up top, who made the extra pass to a wide-open CJ Miles, who drilled a nail-in-the-coffin triple. Kerr called timeout, now down two possessions at 101-97, with 26.5 ticks remaining.
Out of the timeout, Green got the ball in the paint and attacked and got fouled. He made the first, his 21st free throw made in a row, but missed the second. The Pacers got the rebound and were now up 101-98 with 21.6 left. Vogel called timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt.
The Warriors came out with some smothering defense, as Scola had to call another timeout, not being able to inbound the ball. On the next try, West got the ball near the halfcourt line, got hit slightly by Green on an errant dribble, but got the foul call from the ref. It wasn’t penalty bonus yet, so there would be one more side out.
This time, Scola found Miles in the backcourt, who dribbled into a trap. Miles then fed back to Scola, who was about to be caught in the corner by the halfcourt and sideline. With Scola’s momentum beginning to carry him into the backcourt, the official whistled another foul on Green. It was his sixth personal and he exited with 12.8 seconds remaining.
Scola made one of two and the Dubs had the ball on a timeout with 11.9 seconds left, down 102-98, but Thompson airballed a fade-away from downtown and West tipped the rebound to Stuckey, who was fouled immediately by Iguodala in the backcourt. However, there were only 4.8 seconds left — not enough time for a miracle comeback by Golden State.
With the 5 straight 2nd-quarter free throws by Watson corrected to 3 straight, the final score was 104-98. Thompson led all scorers with 39 points on 12-for-28 from the field, just 5-for-13 from three-point range, but 10-for-10 from the line. The rest of the Warriors were just 22-for-61 (36.1%).
Stuckey was fantastic for the Pacers, tallying 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting, plus 5 assists, just 1 turnover, and that big three-point banker at the halftime buzzer.
Iguodala was the only other Warrior in double-figures, with 14, while Lee added 12 rebounds during his good stretches off the bench. Perhaps the statline epitomizing Golden State’s plight for the night was most exemplified by Green’s 3 blocked shots, but 1-for-6 from the field. Barbosa had 9 points off the bench, Bogut tallied 9 rebounds and 4 assists, but Barnes shot just 3-for-11 from the field for 6 points and 6 rebounds.
The Warriors (43-10) will head to Washington, DC to face the Wizards in two nights.
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