Pacers have a way to beat the Warriors
The Indiana Pacers are one of the few teams that can compete with Golden State’s killer small ball lineup
The Golden State Warriors are basketball freaks of nature. When they play their A-game they are unbeatable, but they can’t play great every night. If they have one of those off nights tomorrow against the Pacers, they might catch their first loss of the season.
Not only do the Warriors have the most talent in the NBA, they have arguably the best small-ball lineup in the history of the Association. When that lineup is on it doesn’t just beat you, it annihilates opponents and steals their souls. When they roll out their small, “lineup of death” the rest of the NBA shakes in fear.
Indiana is one of the few teams that has a small-ball lineup that even has a chance to compete with that of the Warriors. That’s what makes tomorrow night’s contest between the two so interesting. The Pacers can’t roll their version of small ball out to defeat the Warriors over a seven game series, but it might just do the trick for one night.
The straw that stirs the drink for the Pacers is their all-world wing Paul George. Regardless of what position he occupies on the floor he’s a match-up nightmare for opponents. He’s averaging a shade under 28 points and over eight rebounds a game and has looked like one of the top ten players in the NBA through the Pacers’ first 19 games.
What’s even more important though, is George is the perfect diverse defender to play against Golden State’s small-ball group. He can literally guard anyone Golden State throws out there in that lineup from point guard Steph Curry to center Draymond Green. When he’s on the floor the Pacers can feel comfortable switching any screen they see. George’s presence on the floor greatly diminishes Golden State’s ability to get the Pacers in mismatches through screens. The Warriors will still score plenty of points, but George’s presence on defense can make them work harder for it than normal.
Expect the Pacers to try to counter the Warriors small-ball lineup with one of their own. They can utilize a lineup of George, Monta Ellis, George Hill, CJ Miles and Jordan Hill to try to matchup with Golden State. They could even slide George down to the five-spot at times and add another shooter like Chase Budinger to the group. That lineup, of course, is not as explosive as what Golden State puts out there, but it does have several guys who can absolutely catch fire.
Specifically, it’s not out of the question that George, Ellis and Miles could all catch fire against the Warriors. While Stephen Curry has greatly improved his defense over the past couple of seasons, he’s still not what you call a lock-down defender. He’ll be forced to play an above average offensive player most of the night by the Pacers. To have any hope of neutralizing Curry’s offensive game you have to make him work on defense. The Pacers have the personnel to accomplish that goal. When Indiana goes small there won’t be anywhere for Curry to hide or rest on defense.
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Don’t forget that the Warriors will likely be without key swing man Harrison Barnes for the match-up. His absence will really show up against the Pacers scoring wings. George and Miles are two guys who Barnes would be frequently matched up with who now will be shuffled off to other defenders. Andre Iguadola will draw them most of the time, but there’s only one of him for Golden State. That means the other will likely draw a defender who’s not Golden State’s first choice.
In the end, Golden State still will enter the game as a prohibitive favorite. They’re undefeated on the season for a reason, but this is a game that represents one of their best opportunities to lose to date. The Pacers not only have enough talent to beat the Warriors if they catch them on the right night, led by Paul George they also have the right talent to hand Golden State their first loss.