Warriors again fail to close out a close game

The losses are piling up.

The Golden State Warriors once again found themselves with an opportunity to win a dramatic, close game. And they once again failed to do so, stacking another number in a loss column that is rapidly catching up to the win column.

Seeking a spark — or perhaps just a matchup advantage — Steve Kerr once again turned to a new starting lineup, with a backcourt of Steph Curry and Dennis Schröder paired with a frontcourt of Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis, plus wing Andrew Wiggins.

But for the most part, the starting lineup didn’t particularly work, with three of the five players having negative double-digit plus/minuses: Wiggins (-15), Jackson-Davis (-17), and Schröder (-22).

On the other hand, Kerr’s pointed words about the team’s young players needing to be smarter, more efficient, and more selfless in deference to Curry seemed to have landed. Jonathan Kuminga — one of two players Kerr admitted the words were primarily intended for — had one of his best games of the year. The fourth-year wing easily led the team with 26 points, shot 9-for-16 from the field, got to the free throw line repeatedly (where he shot 6-for-9), and grabbed eight rebounds with four assists and just one turnover.

The other player on the receiving end of Kerr’s comments, Brandin Podziemski, also took his game up a notch, with five points on four shots, six rebounds, two assists, three steals, and no turnovers. Fellow youngster Moses Moody returned from injury, and while he didn’t put many numbers in the stat sheet, he played well, especially on defense.

But it wasn’t enough for the Warriors on a night where Curry once again struggled. Steph did dish out seven assists and tally an impressive three blocks, but he finished with just 10 points while shooting a mere 2-for-13 from the field, and had three turnovers.

On the whole, the Warriors did a much better job taking care of the ball in this game, with just 11 turnovers. But they were unable to force opportunities out of Indy’s mistakes ... while the Pacers turned the Warriors’ 11 turnovers into 13 points, Golden State got exactly zero points off of 12 Indiana giveaways.

That, combined with star performances from Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, and Tyrese Haliburton, was enough for the Pacers to pull out the win down the stretch, dropping the Warriors to 15-13, and handing the Dubs their 10th loss in their last 13 games.

But we don’t have to wait long to see them try to get back in the win column, as the Warriors will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas evening.