|
 But when it came to the on-court product ... why mess with
perfection?
Steve Kerr returned from complications following back surgery to
coach his first game, and watched his Warriors remain undefeated at
home this season with a 122-110 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.
Point guard Stephen Curry buried 48- and 60-footers, only one of
which counted, in a 39-point, triple-double performance, helping the
Warriors sweep the two-game season series from the Pacers for the
first time since 2000-01.
"Great coaching," Kerr said with a laugh when asked about Curry's
amazing heaves, the longer of which came just after the
first-quarter buzzer and the shorter on the final play of the first
half.
"Steph hits half-court shots all the time in practice," Kerr noted.
"So when he hits one, the coaches don't even blink. There he goes
again."
Curry's eighth 3-pointer of the game, this one from just 25 feet,
provided the crowning blow after the Pacers had gotten as close as
six in the fourth period.
Indiana began the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped by a three-point play
from rookie guard Joe Young, to trim a 13-point deficit to 88-82 in
the second minute of the period.
But Warriors backup guard Leandro Barbosa had five of his 13 points
to stem the tide, and Golden State put out several small fires
before Curry connected from outside the arc on the right side for a
109-96 advantage with just 4:15 to go.
"That wasn't our best stuff," Kerr said of the performance in
general. "We didn't play to our standard tonight. Our standard is
how we played the last two games (in blowout wins at Cleveland and
Chicago)."
Curry finished with a season-high 12 assists and 10 rebounds to go
with his 39 points, giving the Warriors 10 triple-doubles this
season, a franchise record.
"Two fun shots," the All-Star starter summarized of his night. "I
hadn't hit one in a while in a game. Funny that first one went in
and didn't count. I felt confident in the second one because I'd
already made one."
Shooting guard Klay Thompson, who had 39 points in a 131-123 win at
Indiana on Dec. 8, added four 3-pointers and 18 points in all for
Golden State (40-4), which remained two ahead of San Antonio (38-6)
in the battle for best record in the NBA entering their showdown
Monday night.
Kerr, who had attended most Warriors games recently and had led many
of the January practices, had been sidelined by headaches resulting
from the leaking of spinal fluid that was a product of his offseason
back surgery.
He coached Friday's game seated alongside Luke Walton, who had
replaced Kerr for the first 43 games of the season and earned
Western Conference Coach of the Month honors for October/November.
"Felt great," Kerr reported, insisting he experienced none of the
symptoms that had resulted in his lengthy absence. "It's just good
to be back coaching and be back with the group."
Power forward Draymond Green had a 22-point, 11-rebound
double-double for the Warriors, whose third straight victory allowed
them to reach 40 wins in a season faster than any other team in NBA
history other than the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, who did it in 43
games.
The Warriors are 20-0 at home this season and have won 38 in a row
at Oracle Arena dating back almost exactly a year.
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"Special night," Green said of Kerr's return. "To see him doing what
he loves once again is amazing."
Backup center Myles Turner had a career-best 31 points and eight
rebounds for the Pacers (23-20), who were missing point guard George
Hill (birth of son), center Ian Mahinmi (sprained left ankle) and
key reserve Rodney Stuckey (sprained right foot).
Turner, a rookie, was coming off a 25-point outing in Indiana's
97-94 win at Phoenix on Tuesday.
"He's very confident in his offensive game," Pacers coach Frank
Vogel said of Turner. "He did a better job of fighting for position
so we could get him the ball."
Monta Ellis had 18 points, all in the second half, and Young
recorded his third straight double-figure scoring night with 16 as
Indiana lost for the second time in three outings on its four-game
Western swing that ends Saturday night in Sacramento.
On a night when Pacers star Paul George was held to 12 points on
5-for-15 shooting, the Indiana bench kept the game close by
outscoring its Golden State counterparts 60-35.
"I thought we played a good basketball game," Vogel assessed. "We
won the final three quarters, so I was proud of how our guys
competed."
Curry's first-half buzzer-beater gave Golden State a 64-51 advantage
after the Pacers, down by as many as 17 at one point, had climbed
back within seven 34 seconds earlier.
The Pacers got the better of most of the second quarter, including a
6-0 burst late in the period that allowed them to get within 58-51
in the final minute.
But Curry countered immediately with a straight-away 3-pointer with
28.4 seconds left, before sending the crowd into a halftime frenzy
with his 48-footer after a Glenn Robinson III miss.
Curry and Thompson had 15 points apiece in the half, including a
3-pointer each in a 16-2 flurry over a 3:04 stretch that opened a
25-8 lead in the game's seventh minute.
NOTES: Former University of Arizona coach Lute Olson attended the
game to watch Steve Kerr, his former player, making his coaching
return. ... Among the good-luck wishes Kerr received via text
earlier in the day was one from San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg
Popovich, whose team visits Oakland on Monday. ... Asked before the
game to assess the performance of his replacement, Kerr praised Luke
Walton by saying: "We didn't skip a beat; we actually got better."
... Golden State's previous team record of nine triple-doubles was
set in 1959-60. ... The wire-to-wire victory was the Warriors'
fourth of the season. ... The Pacers expect PG George Hill (son's
birth) to return to the team on Saturday in Sacramento after missing
the first three games of the club's trip.
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