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Indiana Pacers post 30th win 3-point shootout with Golden State Warriors

J. Michael
Indianapolis Star

SAN FRANCISCO -- Down even more bodies beyond his starting point guard, coach Nate McMillan had to go with a nine-man rotation Friday night. The Indiana Pacers are used to it.

The Pacers led by 20 and had to hold off three second-half charges from the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in winning 129-118 to go to 3-1 on a road trip that ends at the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. 

"It's our last game of the road trip. Guys can start thinking, 'Let's just go home,'" Pacers center Domantas Sabonis said. "But we got to stick together throughout the whole game and if things go bad, keep fighting and try and get that win."

Last season at this point, with Victor Oladipo having played in most of their games before tearing the quad tendon in his right knee, the Pacers were 31-15. They're 30-16 without him and he's scheduled to return vs. the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. 

Jan 24, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Pacers forward T.J. Warren (1) passes the ball around Golden State Warriors center Marquese Chriss (32) and forward Draymond Green (23) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Standouts: T.J. Warren (33 points, 4 steals) had that familiar pep in his step and couldn't miss early. Doug McDermott (24 points, ties season-high) had unobstructed views of the rim and two buckets off cuts. Sabonis (16 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals) didn't have to carry the load as the scorer. Aaron Holiday (12 points, 7 assists, 2 steals) knocked down three clutch 3s in the second half and Jeremy Lamb (16 points) finally found his groove. The Warriors' primary sparks were D'Angelo Russell (37 points) and former Pacers forward Glenn Robinson (18 points).

Xs and Os: The Warriors left shooters open. They doubled Sabonis in the post, allowed him to throw it out to the top and the ball found them open around the arc. On one sequence, the ball was late getting from the corner to McDermott, who'd lifted from the opposite corner to the top of the key. He stood behind Sabonis' pindown for about 3 seconds calling for it. When the ball finally got to McDermott, he still was open and took an uncontested shot from the arc. He began 6-for-6 from the field, including making three 3-point shots. When the Warriors made a 17-4 run in the third quarter, the Pacers just exploited the aggressive close outs of shooters or double-teams to make the extra pass, drive into the paint and kick to shooters spotting up on the arc. They shot 17-for-28 from 3, or 60.7% to offset the Warriors' 19-for-39, or 48.7%.The 129 points were a season-high.

Injury mix: T.J. McConnell (12 points, 8 assists) made his second start with Malcolm Brogdon (concussion) missing his 13th game because of injury. The Pacers also were without Goga Bitadze (illness), T.J. Leaf (knee) and JaKarr Sampson (ankle) which led to Edmond Sumner getting eight minutes (2 points). McMillan said before tipoff that he might lean on Alize Johnson, a little-used second-year forward, but he didn't play as Golden State led by nine early. 

Locker room talk: "The ball movement was good and we were shooting with confidence. We have a lot of guys that can make plays and make shots any given night and you'll see scoring outbursts from guys like Doug, Domas." -- Warren, who shot 14-for-23.

"In the second half they started collapsing more on me, not letting us roll to the basket easy or in the post so I just tried to get my teammates shots. Coach called it a trap game. They're playing tough every game. They may not be winning but they're in every game battling so we knew we just had to come in and take care of business." -- Sabonis, who shot 5-for-12.

"Domantas Sabonis puts a lot of pressure on you. He's a really good dive man off the pick-and-roll. He sets a good, hard screen and he rolls and he's got good hands in the paint. He's a handful in there." -- Warriors coach Steve Kerr.