Stephen Curry regains scoring form in vain as shorthanded Pacers extend Warriors recent inconsistent form

Stephen Curry and the Warriors have been on an unfamiliar inconsistent run since their win on Christmas Day in Phoenix. 

While the two-time league MVP broke out of his mini-slump and regained his scoring form, Golden State’s up-and-down run was extended on Thursday night by a Pacers squad who was playing on the second night of a back-to-back without six key rotations players in T.J. Warren, Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. McConnell, Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, Myles Turner. 

NBA League Pass: Sign up to unlock live out-of-market games (7-day free trial)

The Warriors led for much of the first half but they were never able to separate themselves.

The Pacers fought back in the third quarter before both teams traded blows in the clutch but 48 minutes wasn’t enough to decide a winner.

In fact, Curry’s late heroics – scoring 14 of the team’s 27 fourth-quarter points – was a huge reason why the Warriors were not only in a position to win late in regulation but to survive Justin Holiday’s clutch shot and play the extra session. 

It wasn’t a particularly efficient night for the Warriors superstar point guard as he shot 12-of-27 from the field including 6-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Having said that, despite going scoreless in the overtime period, Curry finished with a game-high 39 points which is his first 30-point game since Christmas Day. In the nine games he played in between, he was averaging 19.8 points on shooting splits of 37.0 percent from the field and 32.6 from beyond the arc. 

MORE: Takeaways from 3rd All-Star fan voting returns

For the depleted Pacers, it was a complete team effort. Seven of the ten players to log minutes scored in double figures, led by rookie Chris Duarte. 

They outshot the Warriors from beyond the arc, knocking down six more 3-pointers and certainly played a role in the hosts committing 20 turnovers. 

This loss is Golden State’s seventh in 12 games since Christmas Day. So, they have slumped from contending for the best record in the league at 27-6 after the marquee games on Christmas to being 3.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns at 32-13.

On the flip side, this was the first instance the Pacers had won consecutive road games all season and it was their first set of consecutive wins since Dec. 11.