Shorthanded Warriors fall short

A valiant effort, though.

The Golden State Warriors had a scheduled loss on Friday night. They were on the road, playing the back end of a back-to-back against an Indiana Pacers team that was mostly at full strength. And the Warriors list of sidelined players was longer than a CVS receipt: their superstar (Steph Curry), they’re defensive ace (Draymond Green), their starting lineup glue guy (Andrew Wiggins), their sixth man (Jonathan Kuminga), and two key bench cogs (Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II).

The loss was predictable and indeed, they lost 108-96. But they sure as hell made it more interesting and more entertaining than anyone expected. As you could probably guess, the starting lineup of Dennis Schröder, Lindy Waters III, Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson, and Trayce Jackson-Davis struggled to put points on the board to start. The Warriors missed their first seven three-point attempts, and it took nearly four minutes to score their third and fourth points. But the defensive effort was not just spirited but excellent, as they held Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, and the rest of the Pacers in check.

Eventually the offense found some rhythm, and Thursday night’s hero, seldomly-used wing Guy Santos, drove to the hoop for a layup with just over four minutes remaining that gave the Warriors the lead. After a Pat Spencer dunk made it 20-17 Warriors, prompting a timeout for Rick Carlisle, the healthy Pacers team settled in and rattled off an 8-0 run, with Indy taking a 27-24 lead at the end of the fram.

Santos quickly tied the game with a three on the first possession of the second quarter, but then things got sloppy. Neither team could score, with Golden State’s defense holding strong while their offense flailed. Eventually Indiana found a hole in the Dubs’ defense, and rattled off a run. Spencer was playing well, but no one else could score, and with just over three minutes remaining the Pacers pushed the lead up to 14 points. But the Warriors had a response in them, and ended with a flurry of steals and buckets, finishing on a 13-4 run to trail just 50-45 at the half.

It was an impressive effort, but they couldn’t quite sustain it. They got looks to start the third quarter, but couldn’t get them to fall. The deficit hung right around 10 points for most of the quarter — which saw Quinten Post get some meaningful run — and it ended at exactly 10 points, with the Pacers leading 80-70 going into the final 12 minutes.

Things then got exciting. Briefly, at least. The Warriors stayed locked in on defense, and back-to-back early threes by Schröder and Post pulled the Warriors within four. They couldn’t quite get over the hump though, and eventually the Pacers pushed the lead back to double digits, and the Warriors couldn’t quite get over the hump.

For the second night in a row, Hield led the Warriors in points with 17 ... well, co-lead the team, as Spencer’s awesome night also resulted in 17 points. Schröder (12) and Santos (11) were also in double figures, while Jackson-Davis just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Dubs fell back to .500 at 19-19, and now get a day off before traveling out of the country to take on the Toronto Raptors.