This one seemed like it was over as soon as it began.
With three Indiana starters out due to injury, the Golden State Warriors slammed the helpless Pacers 120-83 on Monday evening for their eighth consecutive victory, completing the sweep of their first East Coast road trip of the season.
The Warriors were able to put the game away early in the third quarter without much resistance, forcing Indiana team without starters Paul George, CJ Miles and Myles Turner to shoot a paltry 32%.
Klay Thompson continued his scorching road trip, finishing with 25 points after scoring 29 and 28 against the Bucks and Celtics respectively. Kevin Durant had his lowest scoring output in a Warrior uniform with only 14 points on nine shots, but had maybe his most complete game of the season, finishing with 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals in 27 minutes.
Ball movement continued to be the difference for the Warriors, finishing with 31 assists. Golden State has notched over 30 assists in each of their eight consecutive wins. According to Anthony Slater from the San Jose Mercury News, the only other team to do that in 16 years was the Warriors from last season.
On Monday it was JaVale McGee’s turn as the backup center de jour, with Steve Kerr continuing to rotate his bigs in attempt to find consistency in the middle. McGee again impressed in just 13 minutes, scoring seven points and blocking three shots all while being a consistent threat to throw down lobs on drives from the Warriors perimeter players.
Golden State could’ve lead by at least 20 with a sharper first quarter, committing four careless turnovers and missing a number of wide open looks. Still it was enough to lead the shorthanded Pacers by 13 after one.
Even though Golden State looked half-interested for much of the first half, the exceptional ball movement that has defined the team’s eight game winning streak continued, with 18 assists in the first half, and 8 different players getting into the mix.
All in all the first half looked like what you’d expect between one shorthanded team on the backend of a back-to-back and another on the final game of a four game road trip. The most exciting play of the game’s first 24 minutes didn’t even count, when Steph Curry hit an incredible 3/4 court shot after the buzzer sounded.
The game was essentially over by midway through the third-quarter when Golden State took an 84-55 lead.
The Warriors return home Wednesday to face Luke Walton and the Los Angeles Lakers at Oracle Arena. The Lakers blew out Golden State in their first meeting at Staples Center earlier this season.
