The Tribune

By MICHAEL MAROT

AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton scored 29 points and the Indiana Pacers made 16 3-pointers to hold on for a 125-119 victory last night over the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry, who didn’t finish the game because of a left shoulder injury.

Curry scored 24 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.

Bennedict Mathurin added 24 points and Buddy Hield scored 17 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.

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 coach Rick Carlisle won a challenge on what would have been Turner’s sixth foul. Hield connected on 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, Warriors coach Steve 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, Pacers coach Rick 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.”