Back to the future: Warriors vs. Pacers

The Golden State Warriors put together an impressive performance to finish off the road trip, beating the Indiana Pacers 111-107.

Dare I mention that they’re on the verge of a three-game winning streak? Has that gotten old yet?

Anyway, let’s see how the Dubs did with their pregame keys to victory by revisiting the preview.

Find the energy

The key: Have energy and momentum on the back end of a back-to-back.

The outcome: For a team playing their fourth straight road game, and being on a back-to-back, and having suffered utterly deflating and disheartening losses over the weekend, the Dubs sure brought a lot of spirit.

You can’t call it a pretty performance. It was lacking in polish and finesse and, at times, quality basketball.

But it was gritty and energetic, and that was all I asked for. And more importantly, that was enough.

Grading the key: 8 out of 10.

Be the team in rhythm

The key: Take advantage of Indy’s rust after a week off.

The outcome: The Dubs definitely preyed on the Pacers potential rust. They forced 19 turnovers, and held the Pacers to 45.7% shooting from the field and just 24.1% from deep.

Now, with all that said, the Warriors numbers in each of those categories were similarly bad. But they did make Indiana look like a team that hadn’t played in a while, and that was a big key to victory.

Grading the key: 8 out of 10.

Wiggs and Oubre

The key: Win the battle of the wings.

The outcome: It wasn’t the most efficient day at the office for Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr., but then again it wasn’t the most efficient day at the office for anyone playing in the game. And the Warriors wings seemed to get the better of their counterparts, Justin Holiday and Doug McDermott.

Let’s run the stats:

Wiggins and Oubre: 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 50.8% true shooting
Holiday and McDermott: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 53.1% true shooting

That’s not quite the gap that you would hope for if you’re the Warriors, but it looks a lot nicer when you consider their defense.

Grading the key: 5 out of 10.

Bench mob

The key: Competitive play from the bench.

The outcome: Of the six Warriors to play off of the bench on Wednesday, four had a positive plus-minus, including Kent Bazemore at +10. Eric Paschall contributed 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting, and James Wiseman 11 points and 5 rebounds, though he fouled out in just 18 minutes.

It wasn’t a dynamic bench performance, but it was a competent and competitive one.

Grading the key: 7.5 out of 10.

Good enough for a win. No complaints here.