The Pacers represent the Warriors’ final frontier on the court originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
After procrastinating on 16 lead changes in 18 minutes Wednesday night, the Warriors committed to defense and gave the ball away deep. Grizzlies the kind of beating that became common during Memphis’ losing season.
Golden StateThe 21-point victory was put his home record at a modest 18-18.
According to coach Steve Kerr, numerous analyzes were done, but no solution was found.
“We haven’t been able to establish that dominance at home,” Kerr said this week. “That’s what’s stopping us from climbing the rankings.”
Green Draymond doesn’t have a clear answer for the Warriors’ struggles at Chase Center during the 2023-24 NBA season.
“If I had an answer for you about what’s going on, I 1,000 percent would give it to my teammates,” Green said.
And now come the Boogeymen, who weren’t fazed at all by the Golden State court. THE Indiana Pacerswho used to come to Chase Center once a year, crushing the Warriors into fine powder and walking around like bullies kings.
The Pacers are the only undefeated NBA team in Chase. They were the first to denounce the disappearance of Golden State’s once-commanding home-court advantage.
He has been missing since the location changed from Oakland to San Francisco.
The Pacers are 4-0 in Chase. They won there with good and bad, healthy and holey teams. The most improbable was their 121-117 overtime victory two years ago with three injured starters in street clothes. The Warriors finished that night with a rookie Chris Duarte and a 5-foot-11 G-League veteran named Keifer Sykes.
The last time the Warriors beat the Pacers at home was over five years ago – at Oracle Arena.
Golden State’s starting lineup on March 21, 2019: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins and green. The 13 Warriors – remember Jonas Jerebko? Alfonzo McKinnie? – got minutes in a 112-89 rout.
The Pacers were beaten before they got off the bus, and the same could be said for most teams that ventured into Oracle. An opposing head coach told me in 2015 – before Durant’s arrival energized the team – that it was the toughest arena in the league to get a victory, in part because of the talent of Golden State but partly because of the building.
These Warriors went 39-2 at Oracle in each of Steve Kerr’s first two seasons as head coach. This building constituted a double factor of intimidation which did not materialize at Chase.
Consider Curry’s comments last month, after the Warriors blew a 15-point lead and lost to the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We’ve been very average so far, so we need to get back that fear of the court that we’ve gotten used to in the past,” Curry said.
With back-to-back excellent seasons at Chase heading into 2023, there was a sense that the Warriors were moving toward the goal of making it a place where visitors dared to venture. They were 31-10 at home during the 2021-22 championship season and improved to 33-8 last season. They were a combined 15-3 at home in those two playoff series.
Chase intensified his efforts. . . until this season’s confusing regression. The Warriors’ so-called “home court advantage” is not unreliable.
“It’s been our core product,” Curry said this week. “We gave ourselves a little cushion each season for the last one, however long it was. This is a challenge that we must face at some point during the season.
Boos bounced off the arena walls on January 10, as the New Orleans Pelicans inflicted on the Warriors their worst home defeat (141-105) since a 37-point drubbing in 2007 by the Spurs up to San AntonioIt’s the dynasty.
Responding to Chase’s boos, Kerr said “we deserved it, that’s for sure.” Curry admitted he was “booing our team in my head because of the way we’re playing.”
Since Curry talked about regaining “the fear of the court,” the Warriors are 4-4 in the Chase, with losses to mediocre. Chicago Bullsthe cellar of the San Antonio Spurs and a The New York Knicks team he’s missing three starters — games that likely devastate Golden State’s hopes of securing a guaranteed playoff berth.
The Warriors still have more away games (nine) than home games (five), which that could be a good thing. But that shouldn’t be the case. Not in this league.
“It’s just weird,” Kerr said Monday afternoon. “That doesn’t really make sense. We’ve always been a good home team and that doesn’t mean we can’t start being one now. That’s what I told the guys today. That’s the one thing we haven’t really done this year is control our field. That’s one of our goals here, long term, to take care of business here.
Two hours later, the Warriors led the Knicks by 14 points in the first five minutes. They never caught up.
Although the Warriors recovered Wednesday night by beating the Grizzlies, Friday night’s task is much more difficult. The Pacers have the highest-scoring offense in the league, averaging 122.8 points per game and are No. 2 in offensive rating.
This Indiana team is better than all but one of the Warriors since they came to Chase.
But if the Warriors fail to defeat the Pacers this time, with everything on the line, moving up the standings will feel like an overkill.
