The Golden State Warriors, fresh off a rough 128-111 loss in Milwaukee, are now set to visit the Indiana Pacers in a rematch of last week’s game. The Pacers won that 112-104, and they’ll be looking to sweep the season series against one of the league’s worst away teams in the defending champs. Catch this game live at 8:00 AM on Thursday, December 15.
Away: Golden State Warriors (14-14, 2-12 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Steph Curry
- SG: Jordan Poole
- SF: Klay Thompson
- PF: Draymond Green
- C: Kevon Looney
The Warriors faced a surprise loss against the Pacers at Chase Center last week, and it had a lot to do with Steph Curry’s struggles from the field. Curry finished with just 12 points on 3 of 17 shooting in that game, which was not enough to supplement Klay Thompson’s 28 points and 8 of 16 from beyond the arc along with Jordan Poole’s 23 points. Curry needs to find his rhythm early in the game if they want to win.
Draymond Green had a sextuple-single of two points, nine rebounds, five assists, a steal and two blocks but went 1 of 8 from the field. If he performs similarly from the field again, Indiana’s defenders will have ample reason to send extra people after the Warrior’s talented wing scorers.
With Andrew Wiggins still unavailable, the Warriors can’t afford too many mistakes on offense. It’s also worth nothing that in the Warriors’ last back-to-back away set, they elected to make the last-minute announcement that they were sitting most of their key players. With another tough game against the Philadelphia 76ers coming up in a couple of days, something similar may happen again.
Home: Indiana Pacers (13-11, 8-6 Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Tyrese Haliburton
- SG: Andrew Nembhard
- SF: Buddy Hield
- PF: Jalen Smith
- C: Myles Turner
Rookie Andrew Nembhard balled out against the Warriors last week, posting up 31 points, eight rebounds, 13 assists and a steal while shooting 13 of 21 overall and 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. The ultra-confident youngster will be looking to replicate his performance again, and the Warriors will need to show that they can shut him down effectively.
Tyrese Haliburton wasn’t available for the previous game, but the Pacers’ star point guard looks to be clear on the injury list this time. He’s currently averaging 19.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 11.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 14 home games played so far, so he’ll be another headache to deal with.
Add Buddy Hield’s ability to still get hot on certain nights, and Myles Turner’s ability to rebound, the Pacers have the right pieces tomorrow to pull off another victory.
PREDICTION:
Spread: The Pacers look good for the +1.5
Over/Under: The over 236 looks good.