Preview: Warriors seek a home win over struggling Pacers
Golden State takes on another struggling Eastern Conference team.
The Golden State Warriors look to keep their homecooking going against the Indiana Pacers Thursday night in Chase Center. The Dubs dominated the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night to put a halt to their recent slump. They currently have the second best record in the NBA at 32-12 and the league’s best home record at 19-3.
Homecourt dominance is something the Warriors are activating at Chase Center after being nearly unbeatable at home during the dynasty years in Oakland. Kevon Looney spoke about the importance of Golden State making their relatively new confines a tough place to win, per NBC:
“It’s very important,” Looney told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bob Fitzgerald ad Kelenna Azubuike. “Last year we didn’t have a home crowd because of COVID. This year, Steve [Kerr] challenged us to get back to defending our home court. My first few years here that’s something we took pride in, we never lost at home. This year, that was one of our challenges. We’ve been doing good so far, we’re going to keep it going. Chase has been rocking out this whole year, and we want to keep the momentum.”
For the Dubs to win Thursday, they’ll have to continue to find ways to get it done without their best defender and assists leader Draymond Green.
Quick thoughts re: Draymond Green. When leg pain persists without structural injury to that area (exam/imaging), then you look at the lower back. When a disk is herniated/inflamed (typically L4/L5 area), it can irritate the nerve that supplies the calf causing pain. #DubNation https://t.co/giLOuYTHes
— Dr. Nirav Pandya, M.D. (@DrNiravPandya) January 16, 2022
Steve Kerr speaks on the severity of Draymond Green’s injury pic.twitter.com/I2zat5AMCc
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) January 19, 2022
Meanwhile the Pacers are dealing with injuries to one of their own big man and frequent trade fantasy of Dub Nation, Myles Turner. Per CBS Sports:
Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner will be sidelined for at least two weeks after the team announced Tuesday afternoon he’s suffering from a stress reaction in his left foot. He was experiencing soreness in his ankle and foot ahead of Indiana’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night, and was ultimately held out.
After seeing several specialists its been determined that Turner will receive treatment for his left foot and be sidelined and re-assessed in two weeks. It’s expected that Turner could be out past the NBA’s trade deadline on Feb. 10, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
That’s not good for Indy. The Warriors have a chance to get back-to-back wins over two of the East’s weaker teams and keep their chase for the #1 seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. Let’s see if they’ll get it done!