Golden State Warriors Struggle in Third Quarter, Lose to Indiana Pacers 109-100

Post-Game Report from Patrick Hightower:

The Golden State Warriors were hoping for consistent guard play from Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, and a significant impact from center Andris Biedrins. Unfortunately, that was not the case tonight in Indiana against the Pacers.

The game started rough from the beginning. The Warriors fell behind early by a score of 7-0. Other significant figures from the first quarter include a cold shooting night from Stephen Curry.

Curry finished the first quarter shooting one-for-five in field goals. While Monta Ellis and David Lee combined for ten first quarter points by shooting five-out-of-nine from the floor, the Indiana Pacers got off to an incredibly fast start and outscored the Warriors at the end of the first quarter by a score of 29 to 19.

In the second quarter, the Warriors turned up the defensive intensity. This intensity, along with a big offensive night from Reggie Williams, is what helped the Warriors overcome their first quarter deficit. Williams finished the first half scoring 16 points, shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.

With the spark from the Warriors’ defensive intensity in the second quarter, along with Williams’ offensive contributions, after the surprisingly slow start, the Warriors went into the locker room at half time with a 46-43 lead.

The third quarter, unfortunately, was a quarter that the Warriors have experienced far too many times. Indiana chose to use players like Darren Collison and Paul George to penetrate the Warriors’ defense and score the majority of the Pacers’ points in the third quarter. The Warriors were outscored 37-25 in the third quarter alone. As a result, the Warriors trailed the Pacers after three quarters of play by the score of 80-71.

While Monta Ellis, David Lee and Reggie Williams kept the Warriors within striking distance throughout the fourth quarter, the Pacers’ veterans took over the final quarter of this game. Pacers’ small forward Danny Granger finished the fourth quarter shooting 13 for 13 (and finished the game a perfect 16 for 16) from the free throw line.

In addition to that, small forward Paul George scored ten points in the fourth quarter. This lead to the last 30 seconds of the game when the Warriors’ small forward Dorell Wright misses a 3-point shot from the right corner which would have tied the game.

Although Stephen Curry started making shots in the second half to finish the game with 20 points, after Wright’s missed three pointer, the Pacers go on to make free-throws and beat the Warriors by a final score of 109-100

When Warriors head coach Keith Smart was asked about their effort, he replied, “Our defense [in the second quarter] definitely put us back in the game; but if you want to win on the road, and your shot’s not falling, you need to drive to the basket and finish. You need an inside paint and post presence. And we did not have that tonight.”

The Warriors play their second game of their back-to-back set of road games, and their third road game out of seven tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in Washington D.C. against the Washington Wizards.