NBA: GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS vs INDIANA PACERS | 21 January, 11:00 AM

[Mary C]

  

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUPS:  

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS  

PG | Stephen Curry  

SG | Klay Thompson  

SF | Andrew Wiggins  

PF | Otto Porter Jr.  

C | Kevon Looney  

  

  

INDIANA PACERS  

PG | Malcolm Brogdon  

SG | Caris LeVert 

SF | Justin Holiday  

PF | Domantas Sabonis  

C | Myles Turner  

  

Hero versus the underdog; Warriors versus Pacers. January 21, 2022, is the date to remember for the Golden State and Indiana game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California. The teams will battle it out on the court at 11 AM this Friday, with one team just trying to get the season over with, and the other to prove themselves as a worthy team. It seems like an easy assumption to make, but here’s what we think: 

 

Starting with the Golden Warriors, this team has built themselves like a fortress with a record that’s one of the best in the NBA. Housing the beloved Stephen Curry, GSW is a force to be reckoned with. With all their strengths, many can imagine it hard to look for their weakness, but alas there will always be a weakness in every team. This weakness happens to be linked to their greatest asset: Curry. It’s been hotly debated how Curry carries the team regardless of the other players also being talented because of how they rely on Curry. As Curry is the best scorer, towards the end of matches, opponents want him to keep controlling the ball so they can overload him, essentially targeting him. Fortunately, player Klay Thompson is also a high-caliber threat that lessens the targets on Curry’s back.  

 

Next are the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers had a slow start to the 2021-22 season; the team’s defense then was ranked fifth worst in the league. This was attributed to their weak backcourt. While they’ve slightly improved, now ranking 17th out of all the teams, it’s a definite problem as they’re up against the team currently 1st in the defense and 2nd in the offense departments. However, it’s not all gloom and doom for Indiana, they have the underrated Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis is an out-of-the-box playmaker. During the 2019-20 season, Sabonis made an average of 67 passes in a game, making him one of the top three of the entire league, even beyond Maverick’s Luka Doncic and Laker’s LeBron James. In that same season, he also averages 12.4 rebounds, hoisting him up to the top five and top 12 in offensive rebounding. He’s like the Pacer’s slightly underdeveloped Stephen Curry. He just needs to better his defense, show tangible improvements, and he’ll be stellar in no time. If we point to the numbers, he currently outperforms the Warriors’ Draymond Green in rebounds. Sabonis boasts an 11.9 RPG, 8.7 DRPG, and 3.2 ORPG in comparison to Green’s 7.6 RPG, 6.4 DRPG, and 1.1 ORPG. 

 

Now, if the Pacers were somehow able to exploit the Golden Warriors’ “weakness”, they just might have a chance. However, the Pacers still have a lot to work on within itself to bypass the Golden Warriors as of this season. Still, hopefully the Pacers will tap on this weakness to bring excitement to the game and to show viewers that they are still a big shot team. We’ll be seeing the Golden State Warriors win this game without a doubt.  

 

Friday, January 21, 2022, at the Chase Center, California.