The Warriors put to rest any question about who’s the best team in the NBA with Monday’s dismantling of the Cavaliers. They now return to Oracle where they haven’t lost a regular season game in a year.
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SCHEDULING
Indiana temporarily stopped the bleeding, ending a three-game losing skid by upending the Phoenix Suns 97-94 on Monday night in the second of a four-game Western Conference road trip. The win was the first in four road games for the Pacers and improved their away record to 10-13 SU and 11-12 ATS. It also came at a good time with a contest against the Warriors at Oracle Arena up next. The Pacers should at least be well rested before battling the league’s best. They had two full days off ahead of their meeting with the Warriors and are 7-2 SU and 8-1 ATS when they play on two days of rest. One of the Pacers’ SU losses and their only ATS defeat did come at the hands of Golden State in early December when the Dubs posted a 131-123 victory as a 5.5-point favorite.
The Warriors return home following an interesting three-game road trip. It started with a surprising loss to the Pistons on Saturday in a game where Golden State was outplayed and sparked questions that the Dubs may have hit a wall. They had a swift and thorough response by blasting the Cavs in an NBA Finals rematch. The Warriors have a showdown with San Antonio on Monday and take on Dallas, one of the four teams that beat them, on Wednesday. But first they must get past Indiana.
INJURIES
Pacers center Ian Mahinmi left Tuesday’s game in the first half with an ankle injury and didn’t return. His status is unclear. Also, guard George Hill didn’t make the trip with the team as he deals with personal issues. There is a chance he could join the team at some point during the road trip, but coach Frank Vogel is optimistic that will happen.
KEY MATCHUP
Anytime Stephen Curry is on the floor he creates a mismatch for the Warriors. Not only is Curry the deadliest three-point shooter in the game, he’s among the most efficient two-point shooters alive. The Warriors average more shot attempts inside the restricted area per game than the Spurs and score the ninth-most points inside the paint. Drives. Cuts. Pick-and-rolls. Isolations, Transition attacks. Golden State incorporates a little of everything into its offensive arsenal and it’s all driven by Curry. In Monday’s rematch of the NBA Finals, Curry put to rest any talk of the Cavaliers being the better team. Oh, Cleveland was minus Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in the championship series and the Cavs would have won if those two were available. And Irving just returned from a knee injury when the Warriors won the first rematch on Christmas. With the lineups intact, Curry made sure the Dubs were on their game. He poured in 35 points making seven threes, added five rebounds and four assists and didn’t play the fourth quarter. He seemingly does this every game.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
The only thing that could possibly slow the Warriors is if they’re caught looking ahead to Monday’s Western Conference showdown with San Antonio. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen. It’s hard to imagine the Dubs playing any better than they did Monday in their win at Cleveland, but this is a team that surprises everyone. They make the game look so easy with their unselfish style and they have fun doing it. They shrugged off the loss in Detroit and got right back to doing what they do best. Indiana is competing in the East but has gone through a difficult midseason stretch and has some injury concerns. Not what you want when prepping to play in Oracle. Paul George will do his best to keep Indy in the game, but the Pacers lack consistent secondary scoring and teams can’t keep up without it.
Golden State 118, Indiana 104
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