Curry injures shoulder, Pacers hold off Warriors 125-119
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points and the Indiana Pacers made 16 3-pointers to hold on for a 125-119 victory Wednesday night over the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry, who didn’t finish the game because of a left shoulder injury.
Curry scored 27 of his 38 points in the first half for the defending champions but departed with 2:04 remaining in the third quarter. The Warriors, who lost at Milwaukee on Tuesday night, fell to 2-12 on the road.
ADVERTISING
“He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow,” coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “The trainers told me he was out midway through the fourth quarter. I only spoke to him briefly after the game, so I haven’t had a chance to talk with him yet.”
Curry got hurt during the third quarter while trying to defend against Jalen Smith, who ran into the Warriors star’s arm. Curry immediately grabbed his shoulder while hunched over and went to the locker room during the timeout. The eight-time All-Star and two-time MVP did not speak to reporters.
Even with the Warriors’ biggest scoring threat sidelined, the Pacers struggled to put the game away.
Bennedict Mathurin added 24 points for Indiana, which snapped a two-game skid by sweeping the Warriors for the first time since 2017-18 and just the second time in a decade. Haliburton rebounded from his lowest-scoring game with the Pacers — one point — by going 9 of 17 from the field and making five 3s.
Jordan Poole scored 20 points for Golden State, which has lost four of five. The Warriors played without Klay Thompson (right knee) and Andrew Wiggins (abdominal muscle). Draymond Green scored a season-low one point in 27 minutes and was ejected in the fourth quarter.
Indiana looked like it would cruise after rallying from an early 20-11 deficit and using nine 3-pointers to spur a 47-point second-quarter barrage. The Pacers led 74-54 at halftime.
But after Indiana opened the third with yet another 3, Curry methodically led the Warriors back.
It started with a 14-0 run and Curry’s three-point play with 4:16 left in the third made it 83-80. The Pacers answered with 10 straight points, but the Warriors refused to let them pull away and cut the deficit to 122-119 when Donte DiVincenzo made a 3 with 1:25 to go. Golden State never got any closer.
“We had some good answers when we absolutely needed to have them,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We weren’t perfect, but we’ve just got to keep learning the things we need to learn and keep getting better.”
TIP-INS
Warriors: Golden State has lost all six road games against Eastern Conference opponents this season. The Warriors’ three-game winning streak at Indiana ended. … Curry made five 3s to extend his record to 215 consecutive games with at least one. He also has 250 career 30-point games.
Pacers: Indiana’s second-quarter point total was a season high. … The Pacers improved to 2-3 against Western Conference foes at home. … Myles Turner had 21 points and made of 1 of 2 free throws after Carlisle won a challenge on what would have been Turner’s sixth foul. Buddy Hield had 17 points and four 3s, giving him 104 this season.
BLOWN OVER?
One day after a fan in Milwaukee was ejected for what Green described as a threat against him, Kerr said he had not spoken with Green about the incident but said he thought threats and vulgarity warrant penalties.
“I think there has to be a line,” Kerr said. “I didn’t get a chance to talk with him about it after the game and today after we had our film session, I kind of forgot about it, honestly.”
BATTLE TESTED
Following Monday’s rugged loss to Miami, Carlisle posed a simple question to his young team: How many of them had competed in an NBA playoff game?
“A lot of hands went up,” Carlisle said. “I said you have now. It’s a great example for our team and what we’re going through.”
UP NEXT
Warriors: Continue their six-game trip Friday at Philadelphia.
Pacers: At Cleveland on Friday for the first of four meetings this against the Cavaliers.
