SAN FRANCISCO — Hardly anything went right for the Warriors in the third quarter.
Draymond Green, who’s been dealing with a back injury for weeks, went into the locker room but later returned. The Warriors tripled their turnover total from the first half. Steph Curry had two 3-pointers blocked. Tyrese Haliburton, who sent the Warriors into halftime with a 33-foot buzzer beater, hit a rainbowing 27-footer at the horn.
Haliburton dropped 11 points in the third quarter that the Pacers won 36-21.
The Warriors (36-33) didn’t have enough juice to climb out of the deficit they fell into in the third. Haliburton registered 25 points, 11 assists and four steals and his star running mate Pascal Siakam tallied 25 points, 16 boards and six assists. With the 123-111 loss, the Warriors are now two games ahead of the Houston Rockets in the standings, at risk of losing their play-in status with matchups on the road against three playoff contenders — Minnesota, Miami and Orlando — upcoming.
A high-scoring affair wasn’t surprising. Indiana leads the league in points per game and recent breakdowns have had the Warriors ranked 20th in defensive rating over the past 10 contests. Indiana also gives up the most 3-pointers in the league.
The Warriors led in the first half by as much as 12, but a 12-3 Pacers run — including Haliburton’s insane buzzer-beater — cut Golden State’s lead to 67-66. Brandin Podziemski had 11 first-half points, breaking out of his recent shooting slump, and Klay Thompson was feeling it early; he shimmied after one of his three first-half 3s.
But Indiana’s explosive third quarter broke the game open. In their last game, a win over the Grizzlies, Golden State tallied a season-high 43 assists compared to just six turnovers. They matched that turnover figure in the third quarter, leading to frequent leakouts from Indiana.
Jonathan Kuminga crossed over at full speed for a dunk in transition, but later missed a wide open jam. Haliburton, who has struggled since the All-Star break, couldn’t miss. Pascal Siakam bullied smaller defenders inside.
Golden State’s defensive issues aren’t always the same. Sometimes the Warriors don’t close out to a hot hand tightly enough. Sometimes there are communication breakdowns. Sometimes matchups can take advantage of the Warriors’ smaller lineups.
“We have to maintain a higher level of intensity and energy and discipline, all that,” Steve Kerr said pregame.
Facing a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Warriors resorted to a 2-3 zone defense to slow down Indiana. It disrupted the Pacers’ rhythm by daring Myles Turner to take above-the-break 3s. Indiana scored just 14 points in the first nine minutes of the fourth.
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The Warriors were finally getting stops.
An Andrew Wiggins midrange shot in transition trimmed the Warriors’ deficit to seven. Trayce Jackson-Davis added an and-1 putback to keep the Warriors in it with under two minutes left.
But the Warriors couldn’t capitalize. They held the Pacers to 21 points in the frame, but only scored 23. Chris Paul fouled Siakam on a drive, Klay Thompson threw away an inbounds pass and Paul air-mailed a corner 3. The hole they dug themselves in the third quarter was too deep.
Paul picked up a pair of technicals with the game decided, getting himself kicked out of the game. He and his team had both seen enough.