Insider: Injury-depleted Pacers no match for Warriors
INDIANAPOLIS — The task became harder, the opponent even more daunting, the objective near impossible to accomplish. The Indiana Pacers, a day after their most impressive win of the season over the Oklahoma City Thunder, were blessed Monday by the NBA schedule: They were required to host the potent, rested and healthy Golden State Warriors.
Every team in the league understands the second game of a back-to-back is difficult, a necessary product of the 82-game journey that is not always in your favor.
The Pacers found themselves at a disadvantage in just about every aspect of Monday’s game. They were without Paul George, Myles Turner and C.J. Miles. They played an intense overtime game Sunday night. They were asked to effectively guard one of the best offenses in the NBA. Unsurprisingly, they couldn’t.
The Warriors, in a game with little drama, dissected the Pacers with ease inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The end result was a lopsided 120-83 loss for the injury-depleted Pacers.
BOX SCORE: Warriors 120, Pacers 83
“They were at their full capacity, and they had everybody clicking tonight,” Young said of the Warriors. “It’s big when you’re trying to wake yourself up or tell your body that you’re not tired when you really are tired. At the end of the day, we have to keep scrapping, keep hustling. There’s going to be times in the season where guys are going to go down. We all have to be ready.”
If Sunday’s game demonstrated the Pacers’ grit and perseverance to get their first road victory, then Monday’s game served as the harsh reality of how injuries can doom any team.
“Anytime you go up against a team like Golden State, you want to be healthy and you need to be healthy,” coach Nate McMillan said. “It was going to be a huge challenge to beat this team even at full strength. Injuries are a part of it and the game has to be played.”
None of the matchups Monday proved to be in the Pacers’ favor. Stephen Curry was more explosive than Jeff Teague; Klay Thompson was a better shooter than Monta Ellis; Kevin Durant soared over Glenn Robinson III; Draymond Green was more versatile than Thaddeus Young; and Zaza Pachulila was more mobile than Al Jefferson.
“They were the better team,” Ellis said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game.”
McMillan urged the Pacers to scrap on every possession, to battle the defending Western Conference champs for loose balls.
For 18 minutes, the Pacers (7-8) matched the Warriors’ energy and intensity. But the Pacers were not tough enough to fight through the several screens the Warriors used to free Curry, Thompson and Durant for 3-pointers. The Warriors (12-2) executed on offense with precise ball movement — they finished with 31 assists on 40 made baskets — to build a commanding lead just before halftime.
“We just didn’t have it,” McMillan said. “I just didn’t feel like we could get up and play them. It just seemed like our legs were gone. They were cutting and we were standing and we just couldn’t keep up with them.”
Thompson led all players with 25 points. Curry finished with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists. Durant added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Rodney Stuckey led the Pacers with 21 points off the bench. Glenn Robinson III, for the second straight game, played the most minutes (37) for the Pacers, but he finished with just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/pacers/2016/11/21/ini-112116-golden-state-pacers/92847138/
