Warriors Top Pacers Behind Late Determination

December 1, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles past Indiana Pacers guard Paul George (24) in the first quarter at ORACLE Arena. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

The Warriors and the Pacers were both looking to go for a three-game win streak and win five out of six.

As hot as the Pacers were, the Warriors were able to knock them off behind terrific defense, rebounding, and clutch performance. Ultimately, Indiana never caught up with with the Warriors, who won 103-92. Not a blow-out, but not close.

In this first quarter, Curry and Thompson scored the first seven points, which was a sign that they were going to do well that night. In fact, they played very sloppily, but Ezeli was able to keep the Warriors in the game early, with his tremendous defense and rebounding on the 7’2″ giant Roy Hibbert.

Although the Pacers usually shoot 41% as a team, they were on fire during the 1st quarter, and limited the Warriors to perimeter shots. Klay Thompson got off to a hot start with nine points early. What slump? At the end of the first quarter, the Warriors and the Pacers found themselves tied 20-20.

In this second quarter, the Warriors, as expected, put in Andris Biedrins. He was looking to get the job done on Roy Hibbert, but unfortunately had no chance to prove himself because of phantom foul trouble. All of a sudden, the Warriors began to pick up their offense and found themselves up 35-25 with eight minutes left in the half. They were shooting well, and beating the Pacers at their own game.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they got lazy and forgot to play defense: the Pacers were able to cut the lead to one and eventually retake the lead through a 20-6 run. The game, up to this point, was back and forth and it was about to take another turn. The Warriors were able to knock off eight straight thanks to their backcourt. Defensive stops and great shooting helped them a lot down the stretch. The Warriors lead 51-44 at the break.

The dreaded third quarter wasn’t so dreaded. In fact, this was the time where the Warriors were actually able to push their lead out to 16 behind some hot shooting from Klay Thompson, who had 22 to lead all scores. The Pacers made a desperate push to bring it back to single digits before the third. Too bad Jarrett Jack had something to say, as he scored the Warriors’ final nine points of the quarter, including a beautiful 3/4 court shot.

He didn’t stop there! At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Jack had 18 points off of 8/9 shooting in 17 minutes. Talk about efficient! With three minutes left, however, it was Stephen Curry down the stretch hitting a huge three and pushing the lead to 98-86. The Pacers’ final desperation play was erased by David Lee’s rebounding and clutch shooting.

The Warriors beat the Pacers at their own game: rebounding. Curry and Thompson combined for 40+ and Landry and Jack combined for 30+. The key stat, however, was Harrison Barnes and Klay Thompson’s incredible defense on Paul George, shutting him out.