<u>Indiana Pacers</u> (10-6) at <u>Golden State Warriors</u> (3-11) Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 7:30 PM PST At the Arena in Oakland, CA Golden State: 9.5 GB (Pacific, 5th place) Indiana: 0 GB (Centra, 1st place tied) Probable Starters: Indiana Pacers PG Jamaal Tinsley SG Fred Jones SF James Jones PF Austin Croshere C John Edwards Golden State Warriors PG Speedy Claxton SG Jason Richardson SF Mike Dunleavy, Jr. PF Troy Murphy C Cliff Robinson Quick Recaps Indiana is mired in a four game losing streak due to the recent Auburn Hills brawl, losing their last game against Sacramento, 113-87. In addition, several members are injured, including forwards Jonathan Bender, Austin Croshere and centers Scott Pollard, Jeff Foster, and David Harrison leaving Indiana without many healthy big men in their rotation. Due the size problem, Indiana has been outrebounded in its past few games. Still, Indiana has played through these shortcomings and aside from the Sacramento game, have played competitive ball, with point guard Jamaal Tinsley taking on a bigger role in the offense despite playing through a thigh injury. Indiana should also get a boost from the return of veteran Reggie Miller from his injury and 1 game suspension. Golden State has also lost four straight games, but does not have the same excuse as Indiana as far as a lack of players. Instead, no one has stepped up to earn their playing minutes and coach Montgomery has been trying to find a combination of players that works. Golden State is coming off a loss against the Lakers, 97-88, in which they were unable to keep the Lakers from scoring at will in the fourth quarter, despite playing excellent defense on Kobe Bryant. Key Matchup Jason Richardson v. Fred Jones Fred Jones, who dethroned Richardson in last year's Slam Dunk Championship, has finally had a chance to start due to the suspension of Stephen Jackson and injury to Reggie Miller. He also has become the secondary offensive option due to the suspensions, averaging over 18 points a game in the past 7 games. He has improved his three-point shooting and will have many opportunities to score. Jason Richardson has been the Warriors' primary scoring option, scoring in double digits in every game except one. However, like the rest of the Warriors, his shooting percentage is down from last season (from 43 to 39 percent), and his free throw shooting has also dipped (from 68 to 66 percent). Although the dip probably can be explained by the bigger role he's been given and the failure by the Warriors to get him open shots, it might not be a bad idea to get him a shooting coach. Prediction The Warriors can win this game if they play consistently and wear out the depleted Pacers roster. But, if they overlook the hustle and competitiveness of the Pacers under Rick Carlisle, they may be in for a surprise.
Hopefully we won't have a replay of the fourth quarters in the Minnesota game and the Lakers game. That sucked
I'll keep it brief. Wear out Jamal Tinsley at the point. Keep a hand in Croshere's face. Rebound the ball on both ends. Don't settle for perimeter shots, they have no one who even attempts to be a shot blocker. This is as much of a must-win as the Charlotte/Chicago/New Orleans games were.
I'll predict that i kinda expect this game to be closely played.The Warriors if they can get some really good defense going on can win the game.if the Warriors can win against a depleted Pacers team,things will look good for GS...but however i expect this game played down to the wire. Warriors 90 Pacers 87(what the hell...I'll give the Warriors a win)
I don't know what to expect, the substitution patterns are driving me nutso. I've got a feeling the Pacers small forwards will have a field day, Murphy will get a good rebounding game, Pietrus will have a big game in the few minutes he's out there (yesterday he had 9 points in 7 minutes or something like that), Cheaney will see more playing time than he should for defensive purposes, Dunleavy will be inconsistent from the outside, and Jrich will continue to hoist up shots like he's a Paul Pierce who can't shoot or dribble. I also think Jamaal Tinsley will have a big game, but Speedy won't be far behind.
The officiating is terrible! I wouldn't suprised if we lost this one to bad calls and drugs. That was just pure crack pipe by the refs on several plays on Claxton, on Cheaney and not calling them on Croshere who was just bumping and jumping on everyone. It's kind of b.s.
Hey just checked the score they won. Nice. I'm glad they won. Sounds like they need to paly pietrus 48 minutes
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Gohn:</div><div class="quote_post">Hey just checked the score they won. Nice. I'm glad they won. Sounds like they need to paly pietrus 48 minutes</div> Yeah they definitely do. I love his defense and his blazin' quickness. He also eminds me of Steve Nash attacking the basket. Kind of like how he also just drives with wreckless abandon. I will find some video highlights and post some links if I can.
They finally beat a team with a winning record. The refs stunk. Fouls on people when they weren't involved. Man Pietrus is good. That was the Warriors best game of the year. Perhaps it could earn Mickael a starting spot.
A nice win for the Warriors. Even though the Pacers were undermanned, its good for the Warriors to beat a team with a winning record. Hopefully, this will give them some confidence and they can go on a bit of a roll.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting sactomofo:</div><div class="quote_post">A nice win for the Warriors. Even though the Pacers were undermanned, its good for the Warriors to beat a team with a winning record. Hopefully, this will give them some confidence and they can go on a bit of a roll.</div> Agree. This is first semi-quality win for this club. Nice to see this club playing 3 straight decent games. Let's see what they can do in next game...
Hopefully a win. Boston will be tough though. Just get some good time form JR, Murph, Mickael, and Speedy and we might be 5-11
Good thing we won. We almost got beat in the 3rd quarter by a squad with 1/5 of its starting lineup. We still suck. If it was to the point where Monty continued to hold Pietrus off and continue to play all the non-defenders and the guys that just get beat, we would be toast. There is no amount of offense on the team that can make up for the lack of defensive awareness and laziness these guys have.
Even though this is a win against a team with a good record, Indiana is not a good team, and the game was fairly close. I still dont consider this a quality win. It is a win, just not as quality as we had last year. This team really needs to pick it up. I hope Dunleavy and Chaney get injured so it forces Monty to start Pietrus...
