There’s no questioning the Warriors’ heart and hustle Friday night in their 108-96 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Sometimes being down six players is just too much to overcome.
The Warriors were without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Gray Payton II and Brandin Podziemski. Depth was beyond tested.
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Buddy Hield scored a team-high 17 points, but on 6-of-19 shooting and was 3 of 12 from 3-point range. Fellow backcourt mate Dennis Schroder only gave Golden State 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting as just one of his six 3-point attempts went through.
Perhaps the biggest bright spot was Pat Spencer, a two-way player who tied Hield in the team’s scoring lead by dropping 17 points.
Pat Spencer from downtown 🎯
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 11, 2025
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Both the Warriors (19-19) and Pacers (21-18) struggled shooting, but the Pacers made five more shots despite having eight fewer attempts.
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Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ 12-point loss to the Pacers.
Santa Cruz Pipeline
If Thursday night was all about Gui Santos, Spencer took the mantle early on Friday night. Spencer served as the Warriors’ backup point guard with Curry out, and has done an admirable guard with the ball in his hands whenever given an opportunity. Rare is he a scorer first.
But on a night the Warriors were beyond short-handed, they needed points from anybody and everybody, including Spencer. His seven points in the first quarter alone gave him a new career high. Spencer was at nine points by halftime, and four more brought him to 13 through three quarters.
As part of his night to remember, Spencer made a 3-pointer for the first time in his NBA career.
And he wasn’t alone in former, and current, Santa Cruz Warriors giving their best on a bigger stage. Santos followed his impressive showing by being a team-high plus-9 in 23 minutes off the bench. Santos scored 11 points, two off his career high from the previous night, and also had three assists and three steals.
Quinten Post, the Warriors’ lone pick in the 2024 NBA Draft at No. 52 overall, was called up from the G League and scored six points in six minutes. That amounts to a career high in the NBA, and he too made his first three in a Warriors jersey.
Teamwork makes the dream work 🤝
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 11, 2025
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Layup Line
It’s no secret or surprise what the Warriors’ bread and butter is offensively. They live and die at the 3-point line, but the latter is much more likely than the former when Curry and Co. aren’t on the court. Hield and Schroder going ice-cold from there didn’t help either.
But the Warriors, full-squad or short-handed, have to make the little things easier.
They average the least amount of points off drives per game, at a lowly 19.5 coming into the night. Part of that is style. Another part is how often the Warriors fail at making layups.
A long session of the Mikan Drill is well overdue. The Warriors missed 15 shots labeled as layups. Multiple were blocked, and a handful of others around the basket rattled out as well. This team’s combination of giving up the ball, plus missing layups and free throws is a recipe for disaster far too often.
What’s Left On The Road Trip?
Going into the Warriors’ four-game road trip, the goal always was to at least split their first two games – a back-to-back in Detroit and Indiana. Mission accomplished.
The expectation was that the Warriors would be without Curry and Green for half of the back-to-back. Green wasn’t going to miss his homecoming in the Motor City, and after playing 36 minutes Thursday night, it was clear Curry would be subjected to street clothes on the sidelines. It was impossible to predict Wiggins would be away from the team and back in the Bay Area for personal reasons.
Now, the Warriors are back to .500 on the season with games against the Raptors in Toronto and against the Timberwolves in Minnesota. The Timberwolves beat the Orlando Magic on Thursday, the same night the Raptors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but both teams had Friday off.
This upcoming Monday will be the Warriors’ first game against the Raptors this season, a team currently on a four-game losing streak and only has three wins since Dec. 1. Monday also could mark the return of Payton and Podziemski from injuries. If not Monday, there’s a good chance the two suit up against the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
Curry and Green should be available for both games. Wednesday also will be the Warriors’ fourth and final game against the Timberwolves, after beating them twice in their first three matchups. Going home still at .500 in the least is a must. Being a game above would be big before welcoming Jordan Poole and the Washington Wizards to Chase Center.
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