Warriors overcome tough shooting night in 111-107 win over Pacers

With gauze protruding from his left nostril, Stephen Curry dribbled through his legs, behind his back, inside and out before finding just enough space to split three defenders and finish with a left-handed layup to tie the game midway through the third quarter.

It took that kind of effort on nearly every possession for Curry and the Warriors in Wednesday evening’s 111-107 win over the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Pacers’ defense blitzed and bumped Golden State’s shooters and barricaded the rim. At the end of the second quarter, Curry wiggled free for a drive, but was hit in the face on the layup attempt. He came out for the second half with tissue in his nose to stop the bleeding.

With Curry limited, the Warriors’ offense stalled and shot just 5-of-26 from 3-point range on this second night of a back-to-back. But Golden State showed a lot of grit on the second night of a back-to-back, finding ways to pierce Indiana’s defense with timely screens, slips and cuts.

Curry at times split Indiana’s trapping defense and managed to finish with 24 points on 7-for-21 shooting (1-for-11 from 3-point range). When double-teamed, Curry ceded control to Draymond Green, who finished with 12 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Rookie center James Wiseman ran the floor and flushed timely dunks on his way to 11 points and five rebounds before fouling out 3 ½ minutes into the fourth quarter. Kelly Oubre Jr. (17 points, five rebounds) and Andrew Wiggins (15 points, four assists) found creases in a defense obsessed with limiting Curry.

This was an exhaustive way to end a four-game trip, one in which each game came down to the final moments and the Warriors went 2-2 to improve to 18-15 for the season.

“Grinding it out and and relying on our defense, it’s not pretty,” said head coach Steve Kerr of the Warriors, who out-rebounded the Pacers 41-39 and held them to 45.7% shooting, including 7-for-29 from 3-point range. “But it’s a really a tough-minded group and they compete.”

For the second time in two days, the Warriors avoided a fourth-quarter collapse. After the game was tied at 91, Golden State outscored Indiana 20-16 in the final 7:26.

Curry found Oubre for a 10-foot jumper that put the Warriors up by seven with 2:21 left in the game. It was their largest lead in a game that featured 15 lead changes. Malcolm Brogdon’s layup cut the lead to two with 10.1 seconds remaining, but Curry and Green made all four free throws down the stretch to earn the win.

“I thought tonight, we were the smarter, tougher team,” Kerr said. “That’s what wins close games, especially on the road.”

For the Pacers (15-14), forward Domantas Sabonis finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds and four assists and Malcolm Brodgon added 24 points.

While consistency has eluded these Warriors, toughness hasn’t. When the Warriors return to San Francisco for a one-game reprieve against the Hornets before hitting the road again for the final three games before the All-Star break, they will try to string together their first three-game win streak of the season.