Pacers-Warriors Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Dec 01 2012 11:09AM

David West and David Lee each are coming off season-best scoring performances, helping their respective teams continue their recent surges.

West looks to help the Indiana Pacers complete a perfect three-game swing through California against Lee and the Golden State Warriors as each squad seeks a fifth victory in six games Saturday night.

The Pacers (8-8) began a four-game road trip with a 79-77 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday before West scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in their 97-92 victory at Sacramento on Friday.

George Hill added 25 points and eight assists.

"These last two wins our team has really followed the game plan literally in a couple of regards and it's paid off with two big road wins," coach Frank Vogel said.

Indiana ranks near the bottom of the league in scoring, averaging 90.8 points and has struggled at times without injured forward Danny Granger, but West's performance helped it get back to .500. The veteran forward hit 13 of 20 shots and is averaging 23.0 points over his last five games.

"He's the kind of guy that will do whatever is needed of him to win," Vogel said. "This team right now as constructed with Danny out needs him to score the ball. He's stepping up in a big-time way."

West, who is averaging 23.3 points over his last seven games at Golden State, said the Warriors should present a tough challenge before the Pacers conclude their trip at Chicago on Tuesday.

"Different monster. They've got a different basketball team, playing well," West said.

The Pacers defense, which ranks near the top of the NBA allowing only 91.3 points per game, may have its hands full containing Lee, who is on a hot streak of his own.

Like West, Lee had 31 points and 11 boards in his last contest, leading Golden State (9-6) to a 106-105 win over Denver on Monday. He hit 13 of his 15 shots and is averaging 22.3 points while shooting 61.9 percent over his last four.

"He's just playing great," coach Mark Jackson said. "(He has the) ability to make plays, whether for himself or for others."

Lee, though, knows West and Roy Hibbert should present a difficult challenge for him down low Saturday.

"They're both great players," Lee said. "West is playing great and Hibbert is always a threat and a legit 7-footer who can score. It comes down to us defending, out-rebounding them and controlling the paint."

The Warriors barely survived Monday, as Denver's Andre Iguodala had a potential winning shot at the buzzer ruled no good after replay review. Klay Thompson scored 21 points and Stephen Curry finished with 20 while Jarrett Jack added 18 off the bench.

"Happy that one was able to go in our favor, but it shouldn't have come down to that," Jack said. "We had a couple mistakes, errors down the stretch that we'll definitely try to clean up in practice."

Both Lee and West were held in check in the most recent meeting Feb. 28. Lee finished with 12 points while West had 10 as Indiana routed Golden State 102-78 for its third straight win in the series.

The Pacers' 94-91 victory Jan. 20 ended a four-game road losing streak to the Warriors.

Warriors beat Pacers 103-92 for 3rd straight win

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN
Posted Dec 02 2012 2:10AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Golden State got a big game from Stephen Curry, a solid effort by David Lee and another strong fourth quarter.

This is becoming quite the routine for the Warriors, who beat the Indiana Pacers 103-92 on Saturday night for their third consecutive victory.

"We just play until the buzzer sounds," said Jarrett Jack, who had 18 points, including a 57-foot heave from beyond midcourt at the end of the third quarter. "That's kind of the mentality that's been sticking with us all season long. We just try to preach that when we get up on a team we can't let them hang around."

Golden State led by 16 in the third quarter, then held off a mini-rally by Indiana at the start of the fourth before pulling away for the win.

Ian Mahinmi made a layup and two free throws to help the Pacers close to 82-76. Jack answered with a short floater in the lane, fellow reserve Carl Landry followed with a dunk, and Indiana got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Curry had 20 points and a season-high 11 assists while Klay Thompson scored 22 points for the surprising Warriors, who remain tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for first place in the Pacific Division.

It was Curry's second straight 20-10 game and marked his first back-to-back double-doubles since his rookie season.

"I'm trying to be aggressive whatever happens ... and guys are making shots," Curry said. "It's been a good offensive rhythm the last couple of games. Picking up the tempo has been a big emphasis for us."

Lee added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. Landry added 16 points for the Warriors, who improved 7-0 when they are tied or have the lead after three quarters.

David West scored 23 points and George Hill had 19 for the Pacers.

"The Warriors just got hot, especially Curry and the other perimeter players," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "Those guys killed us. We guarded the paint the way we wanted but we couldn't stop the perimeter guys. They spread you out."

Curry took nine shots through the first three quarters and seemed content feeding his teammates before making two key 3-pointers over the final 3:01 to help Golden State to its seventh win in nine games. He finished 7 of 14 from the floor.

Indiana, making its third stop on a four-game road trip, made one final push behind a pair of buckets by West but couldn't get closer than six points in the fourth quarter.

Golden State got a big boost from its reserves, with Jack and Landry leading the way.

Swept by the Pacers in 2011, the Warriors pulled away in the second quarter following a 12-2 run. Landry had six points during the surge on back-to-back three-point plays, and Draymond Green's tip-in gave Golden State a 32-23 lead.

Indiana's defense prevented it from getting out of hand.

The Pacers held the Warriors to one basket over 6 1/2 minutes, forced 11 first-half turnovers and used a 17-6 run to move in front. Roy Hibbert scored on a dunk, jump hook and two free throws, while Hill had a 19-foot jumper that made it 42-41.

Curry helped Golden State to a strong finish to the half, and the Warriors got a lift from Thompson and two rookies early in the third. Thompson made a pair of 3s, Harrison Barnes followed with long jumper and Festus Ezeli later scored on a dunk to extend the Warriors' lead to 67-54.

Indiana closed to 77-72 in the third before Jack responded with a driving layup and his buzzer-beating 3 from beyond midcourt. Jack, who scored Golden State's final eight points of the period, crouched low and posed on the Warriors logo and slapped hands with Green as the Oracle Arena crowd roared.

"It was honestly just a heave," Jack said. "I thought it was going to go in off the backboard. I think I've been due for one all year. A couple of them have rimmed in and out."

Hibbert had 15 points and seven rebounds for Indiana, while Mahinmi finished with 10 points.

NOTES: This was the first of nine consecutive games against Eastern Conference teams for Golden State. ... The Warriors recalled G/F Kent Bazemore from the NBA Developmental League before the game.

Notebook: Warriors 103, Pacers 92

Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com
Posted Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:48 AM - Updated Sun Dec 02, 2012 1:48 AM

THE FACTS: Stephen Curry had 20 points and 11 assists and Jarrett Jack poured home 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Golden State Warriors beat the Indiana Pacers 103-92 Saturday night. The Warriors, who have won five of their last six overall and five straight at home, got a team-high 22 points from Klay Thompson despite the guard missing his last nine shots of the evening.

David West had 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Indiana, which had a three-game road winning streak snapped on the second half of a back-to-back.

QUOTABLE: "Give our ownership and our front office a lot of credit, because there were some people that were saying, 'We know he's a good player, but let's hold off on signing him.' We knew exactly who he was as a basketball player, person and face of this franchise. He's playing on a level that we thought we would play at. Leading his team, making plays down the stretch, defending -- it's great to see."

-- Warriors coach Mark Jackson on Curry

THE STAT: Coming on the heels of a 20-point, 10-assist performance against Denver on Thursday, this marks the first time Curry has put together back-to-back 20-10 games in his NBA career.

TURNING POINT: The Pacers fell behind by 16 points midway through the third quarter, but closed to within 77-72 on West's fadeaway 13-footer with 32.6 seconds remaining in the quarter. Jack responded with a 7-foot floater after driving past D.J. Augustin. Then, after an offensive foul by Pacers center Ian Mahinmi with 1.9 seconds left, Jack took the inbounds pass, used one dribble to center himself and threw up a shot from two-thirds court -- estimated at 57 feet by the Warriors' stat crew -- that rattled once and stayed down, giving Golden State an 82-72 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

HOT: Jack set his season high Thursday with 18 points against the Nuggets, then matched it two days later thanks to an 8-for-9 shooting night. Jack was 4-for-4 in the third quarter, including his buzzer-beating heave, for nine points. He also tallied five rebounds and five assists.

QUOTABLE II: "I gave it a little shot-put thingy off my shoulder, kind of. I just tried to get some air underneath it. There was some time on the clock. I knew there was a chance to get a shot up. Some guys get discouraged with shooting that shot, it messes with your [3-point] percentage. But who knows→ What if it would have come down to us winning the game by three points→ It could have been that shot."

-- Warriors' Jarrett Jack on his epic heave

NOT: Indiana sorely missed small forward Danny Granger, who routinely feasted on the Warriors (career averages against Golden State: 23.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game). Paul George was a particularly poor replacement Saturday, going 0-for-7 -- 0-for-5 behind the arc -- and ending up scoreless.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Thompson carried his sizzling form from the end of November into December. In his last five games, the second-year guard -- who played Saturday in his 82nd career game after a lockout-truncated rookie campaign -- is averaging 21.2 points per game on 47.2 percent shooting, 36.1 percent behind the arc, vast improvements on his first couple of weeks this season.

NOTABLE: The Warriors (10-6) stayed tied atop the Pacific Division with the Clippers. . . . Golden State is four games above .500 for the first time since starting 2010-11 at 6-2. . . . By a 41-36 count, the Warriors outrebounded the Pacers, who came in ranked No. 1 in total boards per game at 48.06. Golden State is 10-1 when winning that category, 0-5 when losing it.

UP NEXT: For the Pacers, Tuesday @ Chicago, Wednesday vs. Portland, Friday vs. Denver. For the Warriors, Monday vs. Orlando, Wednesday @ Detroit, Friday @ Brooklyn.

• Pacers: Granger, Plumlee
• Warriors: Bogut, Rush

• Pacers: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #27 Dick Bavetta, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 18623
• Duration: 2:08