CALIFORNIA — Indiana Pacers waxed hot in the endgame to pull off a 121-117 overtime upset against Golden State Warriors in the 2021-2022 NBA Season on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Down 110-115 late in the extension period, rookie Chris Duarte converted back-to-back inside hits to tie the score at 115-all on a split free throw by Oshae Brissett.
A triple and a layup by rookie Keifer Sykes gave Indiana a 120-115 lead. The Warriors trimmed it to 117-120 on a basket by Andrew Wiggins but a free throw by Jeremy Lamb sealed the win for the Pacers.
Duarte finished the match with 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Justin Holiday and Isaiah Jackson added 16 and 15, respectively, for the Pacers.
Goga Bitadze finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists, as Lamb, Torrey Criag and Sykes ended up with 14, 12 and 10, respectively, for Indiana.
It was the second consecutive upset victory of the 17-29 Pacers, which were playing without injured veterans Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren.
Stephen Curry led the way with 39 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Kevon Looney and Klay Thompson added 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Warriors dropped to 32-13.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns (35-9) tightened its hold on the top spot in the Western Conference standings with a come-from-behind 109-101 triumph over Dallas Mavericks (26-20).
Devin Booker top-scored with 28 points. Chris Paul added double-double 20 points and 11 assists, while Jae Crowder drained three triples to end up with 13 markers for the Suns.
New Orleans Pelicans (17-28), for its part, cruised to a 102-91 domination over New York Knicks (22-24). Jonas Valanciunas had double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Pels.
BOX SCORE:
INDIANA 121 — Duarte 27, Holiday 16, Jackson 15, Lamb 14, Bitadze 13, Craig 12, Sykes 10, Washington 8, Stephenson 4, Brissett 2.
GOLDEN STATE 117 — Curry 39, Looney 13, Thompson 12, Wiggins 11, Lee 9, Bjelica 8, Payton 6, Kuminga 5, Poole 5, Toscano-Anderson 5, Iguodala 4.
Quarterscores: 23-30, 55-63, 83-83, 110-110, 121-117. /PN
