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Three observations as Warriors crush Pacers to end road trip

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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© Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

There were at least three Warriors players who fell hard to the ground tonight – all All-Stars in Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins. All of them were fine, and the Warriors rolled for their 11th-straight win and 10th-straight road win to cap off a five-game road trip.

Here are three observations from the Warriors’ 132-100 win over the Pacers:

“No doubt about it”

Tonight was touted as a potential trap game for the Warriors. Coming at the end of a five-game road trip, with three East Coast games, it seemed within reason that the Warriors might los some a little steam. Such was not the case.

The Warriors steamrolled the Pacers with ease, even with a poor performance from Kevin Durant. Durant had just 16 points (7-of-21, 1-of-5 from 3-pt), with 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 turnovers. But when the Warriors have fantastic performances from Curry, DeMarcus Cousins, Jordan Bell, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney (all while playing stifling defense), it’s unlikely an opponent will have a chance. Here were some of the top performers for the Warriors tonight (Jordan Bell below):

Stephen Curry: 26 points (10-of-13, 6-of-8 from 3-pt), 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers

DeMarcus Cousins: 22 points (7-of-12, 1-of-2 from 3-pt, 7-of-9 from FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers

Kevon Looney: 15 points (6-of-6, 3-of-3 from FT), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover

Klay Thompson: 16 points (7-of-16, 2-of-6 from 3-pt), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover

Andre Iguodala: 6 points (2-of-2, 2-of-2 from FT), 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover

To put in perspective just how well Cousins is playing, here’s a recap of his start with the Warriors from Anthony Slater:

If Cousins plays like this the rest of the year, it’s hard to see anyone challenging the Warriors. Rapper Freddie Gibbs, a native of Gary, Indiana, said it on “Bout It, Bout It.” The way the Warriors played tonight, the win was always clear (as are the Warriors’ Finals’ prospects), “No doubt about it.”

Jordan Bell makes the most of a rare start

For much of this season, Jordan Bell has been the odd man out. With DeMarcus Cousins back in the lineup, his minutes have all but disappeared, as Cousins, Draymond Green, Jonas Jerebko and Kevon Looney are all pegged ahead of him in the front court. As Bell’s minutes have evanesced, his frustration has increased, most notoriously at the end of the Warriors-Lakers game, when it led to this exchange:

After the game, Steve Kerr said it was about a “misinterpretation of something I said,” and that the situation had been cleared up:

That led us to tonight, with Green resting and Jerebko back home anticipating the birth of his child. As such, Kerr gave Bell the start, and he delivered. In his 16 minutes on the floor, Bell finished with 8 points (4-of-5 shooting), 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover. It also featured a possession in which he displayed relentless energy and picked up a pair of offensive boards. Most importantly, he got key minutes that he was missing, and took out some of his frustrations on the rim with this dunk:

We all fall down

I don’t know what was happening tonight, but three of the Warriors’ All-Stars ate it at some point during the game. The first one, a fall from DeMarcus Cousins, was the most concerning, but he got back up and stayed in the game.

This second one, from an over-excited Stephen Curry, was not concerning in the slightest, except for the fact that it’s the second hilarious fall from Curry in a week:

At one point Kevin Durant fell too, but there’s no video of that. He’s fine, though, and so are the Warriors. They’ll return home to Oracle Arena this Thursday to play the Philadelphia 76ers and shoot for a 12th-straight win.

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