Warriors vs Pacers – 2019 Video Highlights (See blog below)
2019.01.28 – The Golden State Warriors extended the NBA’s longest winning streak this season to 11 with a 132-100 rout of the Indiana Pacers (Warriors vs Pacers – 2019 Video Highlights). Stephen Curry scored 23 of his 26 points in the first half, while DeMarcus Cousins added 22 to rout the Pacers. (See blog below)
2019.01.28 (#Warriors vs. #Pacers) See video & blog below
2019.01.28 (#Warriors vs. #Pacers) See video & blog below
Warriors’ 11th Straight Win! Dubs rout Pacers
Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors dunks the ball against the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on January 28, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
2019.01.28 – The Golden State Warriors extended the NBA’s longest winning streak this season to 11 with a 132-100 rout of the Indiana Pacers. Stephen Curry scored 23 of his 26 points in the first half, while DeMarcus Cousins added 22 to rout the Pacers.
The two-time defending champions still aren’t satisfied.
“I feel like we can,” Curry said when asked if the Warriors can get even better. “We’re not playing perfect basketball, by any stretch, but we’re playing consistent, focused basketball and we’re still working out some kinks with rotations and stuff like that.”
It’s a scary thought for the rest of the league, especially after the two-time MVP turned in another head-turning performance.
Curry made his first eight shots and his first six 3-pointers, including a demoralizing 27-foot buzzer-beater that gave the Warriors a 69-48 halftime lead. He finished 10 of 13 from the field with six rebounds, three assists and two steals in just 27 minutes.
DeMarcus Cousins had a season-high 22 points on a night five players scored in double figures and the Warriors had 39 assists.
Kevin Durant had 16 points for the Warriors, who have won a league-best 10 consecutive road games and got their first sweep on a five-game road trip since November 2014. And Draymond Green didn’t even play.
But even at full strength, the Pacers would have had difficulty weathering the Warriors’ flurry.
Curry scored eight straight to break a 16-16 tie midway through the first quarter and Golden State never looked back. The Warriors closed the quarter on a 24-6 run to make it 40-22 against the league’s top scoring defense.
And all that came on the final leg of a five-game road trip without Draymond Green, who rested, and against the league’s No. 1 scoring defense.
“I was a little worried about this game. Everybody’s anxious to get home,” coach Steve Kerr said. “But we finished off the trip the right way. We’ve been more dialed in the last month than we have all season.”
Golden State has won a league-high 10 consecutive road games and swept a five-game trip for the first time since November 2014.
The Pacers played without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who had season-ending surgery on his right knee Monday, and Tyreke Evans, Oladipo’s replacement, because of a sore back. But even at full strength, they may have struggled to weather the Warriors’ flurry.
Indiana gave up a season-high 40 points in the first quarter, and never got closer than 16 after Curry broke a 16-16 tie by scoring eight points to start a decisive 24-6 quarter-closing run en route to its most lopsided loss this season.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this team is going on the up track,” Pacers guard Darren Collison said. “I think we saw tonight, playing against a team like that, how to execute and we can take something from that.”
Myles Turner scored 16 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 15 but Indiana dropped its second straight since losing All-Star guard Victor Oladipo to a season-ending knee injury. The Pacers also played without Tyreke Evans, Oladipo’s replacement, because of a sore back. It was the Pacers’ worst loss this season.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Kevin Durant had 16 points and seven assists as his 22-game streak of scoring at least 20 points ended. … Klay Thompson added 16 points. … Jordan Bell replaced Green in the lineup and scored eight. … The Warriors improved to 18-8 on the road, the league’s best mark. … They also snapped a two-game losing streak in the series.
Pacers: Dropped to 7-6 this season without Oladipo, who missed 11 games in November and December with a sore right knee. … Collison scored 13 points and had eight assists. … Thaddeus Young finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists. ….IndyCar drivers Ed Carpenter, James Hinchcliffe and Will Power attended the game. Power won last year’s Indianapolis 500.
OLADIPO UPDATE
Oladipo might be out of sight, but he’s not out of mind.
After team officials announced Monday that Oladipo is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery on a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee, the team handed out gold T-shirts with a message: “Together 4 Vic.” And Oladipo delivered a pregame video message, thanking the fans for their support and encouraging his teammates to overcome his absence.
While the Pacers have not established a timetable for his return, coach Nate McMillan acknowledged Oladipo would be on crutches for a “couple of months” and probably wouldn’t travel with the team.
“I just spoke with him,” McMillan said during pregame availability. “He’s doing fine. He’s doing great.”
HE SAID IT
“He (Curry) has this skill set you can’t really fathom,” Kerr said. “It doesn’t matter time, score — he’s always one shot away from getting on fire.”
Cousins survived a scare
Cousins fell to the floor and landed with a hard thud, sending gasps all over the arena for obvious reasons. Cousins appeared in only his fifth game after rehabbing a left Achilles tendon injury for nearly the past year. So after Pacers forward Myles Turner committed a Flagrant 1 Foul on Cousins with 7:35 left in the first quarter, the Warriors naturally wondered when Cousins would get up.
“We were all very concerned,” Kerr said. “We didn’t know what was going on.”
Kerr rushed out to the court. So did Andre Iguodala and Jordan Bell. Then, Cousins said to them, “I’m all right.” Iguodala and Bell then helped Cousins off the floor.
“It was pretty spooky,” Cousins said. “But thank God I’m all right.”
In a weird way, Cousins liked that he took a hard fall. The same thing happened to former Atlanta Hawks Dominique Wilkins during the following training camp after he injured his right Achilles tendon at the end of the 1992-93 season.
“That’s exactly how I felt about it,” Cousins said. “After coming of any injury, you take any kind of bump or fall, whatever the case may be, it spooks you for a second. But it’s good to know I can still take a licking and bounce back.”
Other than that fall, nothing could stop Cousins. He finished with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes, a slight increase from the workload he had against Washington (24) and Boston (23). Cousins also showcased more of his offensive dominance with finishes at the rims. With Curry and Durant sitting out to open the fourth quarter, Cousins also had a more predominant offensive role with a staggered lineup that featured Quinn Cook, Thompson, Livingston, and Iguodala.
“I just thought he got a lot of work done inside. He scored more hoops around the bucket than he probably has combined in the first four games,” Kerr said. “Some of it was the game plan. We wanted to run a couple of sets to get him the ball in there. Some of it was him feeling more comfortable with his conditioning and game.”
Cousins showed all of that even after taking the hard foul. Kerr revealed that Cousins “was a little sore” “and “a little achy.” But Kerr added that had nothing to do with his Achilles injury and everything to do with playing five games in 11 days after sitting out for nearly a year. The Warriors will have Tuesday off, giving Cousins some time to heal.
As Cousins showed with the fall, though, it has not taken him long to get back up.
“I’m still getting used to all of that,” Cousins of the contact. “At one point, it was like waking up and playing through contact and whatever the case may be and still getting adjusted to it. I’ve got a couple of different looks from the big men throughout this road trip, some that were more finesse and some that were physical. I got different looks, but I’m still getting used to it. It’s a good test or me.”
UP NEXT
Warriors: Hosts Philadelphia, a team it has beaten 10 straight times, on Thursday.
Pacers: Visit Washington on Wednesday.
Read more at: Golden State Warriors Media Services / More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
JEstevez@EMIsportsCentral.com
For more on the Golden State Warriors, see the blog at www.EMIsportsCentral.com
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