Because Golden State gets off shots fast – and they make ’em from everywhere. But when you add a historical winning streak into the mix, the hoopla turns into a national frenzy. The Portland team they downed some eight months ago in no way resembles the Portland squad that is working its way through a rebuilding effort in 2015-16, but hey – 27 straight wins are 27 straight wins, y’know? When he has that look, he is going to have his confidence all night. Against a quality opponent, the Warriors won’t be able to hang their fortunes entirely on Livingston turnarounds and Rush threes. Among them was former Warrior David Lee, who tallied 12 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes after missing the previous two games with a bruised right heel. The coach could not rave more about the Warriors, but wants his team to focus mostly on itself.
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“We’ve got to handle the end of the game better. We are in the same league and we feel like we have a chance to keep our streak going”. He scored 29 first-half points on his way to a season-high 39 on 13-for-21 shooting, including 10 of 16 from 3-point land. George, though, has been nearly as impressive. Andrew Bogut contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Mario Chalmers led Memphis with 19 points, and JaMychal Green and Marc Gasol had 11 apiece. A victory would have given the Pacers the best record in the East. It seems as though everyone, including Thompson, is optimistic that he won’t miss much time as a result of the injury. Instead, the bigger issue was how George and the Pacers plan to defend Curry.
Another lesson: The Pacers might want to consider a different defensive game plan next time against Golden State.
If that occurs, George said he plans to be physical.
“If there’s any concern at all that his ankle is hurt, then we’re not going to play him”, said Walton. “My only thing is being effective on the offensive end as well, not getting too drained and too worn out trying to run around and chase Steph”.
The Warriors’ top players don’t mind extra attention AT ALL; they love that they’re the top attraction in sports right now, they love that every team is gunning for them, every arena is sold out because of them. The Pacers made a stirring fourth-quarter run, but cutting 32-point leads to six won’t get you very far.
Vogel said Curry, more than any other player in the league, can demoralize an opposing team and change the momentum of the game by making hard shots in a blistering manner.
The Pacers gave up 44 points in the opening quarter at Chicago in December 1990 and a franchise-worst 80 points in the first half at the Lakers in November 1978.
“You have the bandwagoners”, Pagado said, pointing to himself with a laugh before motioning to Lam. “And you have the serious fans”. They do it every night. His list, as one would expect, was rather long. “All it takes is for a couple of shots to go in”. “What makes them great is ball movement and man movement”.
Thompson was reportedly seen shooting jumpers already on Wednesday’s (Thursday in Australia) practices but his status in the Celtics game on Friday is still unclear.
“Spacing”, Miles continued. “You have two of the best shooters in our league spaced”.
The Warriors didn’t just come to Christianity as a team during their success.
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Twenty-three games in, Golden State’s streak is now the longest to begin a season in any major American professional sport, eclipsing both recent streaks, like the 2007 New England Patriots (18), and ancient ones, like the 1884 St. Louis Maroons (20).
