Just about any team save for the Sixers and Lakers (both sabotaged by a disastrous mix of front office, ownership, player and coaching decisions) can beat the Golden State Warriors.
Advertisement
Since the Pacers declined to pick up Hill’s fourth-year option, he has seemed an afterthought to a team shifting toward an offensive mindset.
Forgive the Milwaukee Bucks if they don’t remember the St. Louis Maroons, who until last week had achieved the best start to a season in professional sports history.
Now, I’m not psychotic enough to think that looking at last night’s game as a relentless torrent of positive moments for the Pacers is rational for a Pacers partisan, but despite soft early defense, there was some good to focus on.
For 22 games, no team has solved the Warriors. The Warriors caught on, the team quit hitting, and the Pacers had nothing to fall back on – enter the 20+ point run that GSW had in the first quarter. The Pacers’ new age offense is not the Golden State new age offense. Andrew Bogut contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. That kind of shooting night is virtually impossible to overcome. Dion Waiters finished with 12 points.
As the Golden State Warriors continue to pile up wins, they’re beginning to lose healthy bodies. Cutting that insurmountable lead to six was a hell of an accomplishment.
The Pacers went cold with 0-of-9 shooting, 0-for-3 from beyond the arc and were just shellshocked for the remainder of the first half. “So, yeah, I’d take down Steph at my peak”. Teams are trying out “pace and space”, pushing the tempo of the game and going small with their line ups. That’s by far the best number in the league and a mark almost 28 points higher than anything we’ve seen over the past eight years.
6 – Chase Budinger’s +/- was +18 during his 18 minutes of play.
In the middle of the Indiana Pacers locker room Tuesday night, Solomon Hill pulled up a chair and blocked out distractions.
For more on the Warriors, see the Inside the Warriors blog at.
Curry has an effective field goal percentage of. But it takes work to do what the Warriors are doing. Either way, when it came time to finish, the Pacers brought a lot of energy. Unlike some of these games where the Warriors maybe messed around before jamming down on the gas pedal late, the Warriors knew that the Pacers posed a real threat to their ideal season. Wasting possessions through turnovers when playing an offensive efficiency machine like the Warriors is death – or it should be.
“We’ve got to be real with ourselves”.
Advertisement
The Pacers weren’t ideal last night. And, they would have done it in a more-impressive fashion. Rather, they’re evidence of just how hard it is to mentally and physically maintain the level of play that the Warriors now have for 23 games (don’t get me started on this “four games from last season” garbage). They’re six wins away from tying the longest winning streak in National Basketball Association history, and with such a strong second unit that can hold the lead the starting five builds, the Warriors have a chance, rest their star players.
