March Madness (Warriors 112, Pacers 89)

I tuned into the opening quarter of the Warriors-Pacers game tonight and couldn’t really tell the difference between what I saw earlier in the day (March Madness) and what was being presented as an NBA game. Perhaps (un)inspired by the slower-paced and naturally less-talented, but no less compelling, college games (or more likely just tired after a tough road trip), the Warriors and Pacers combined to score just 38 points in the first quarter. But where the Dubs have previously let offensive struggles impact their focus on the defensive end of the floor, here they doubled down and put together a playoff-quality defensive performance against a team that is top 5 in shooting and top 5 in three-point shooting. In fact, this was the focus of Andre Iguodala’s postgame interview – he spoke about how, starting with the San Antonio game, even when shots weren’t falling, the Warriors didn’t let that rain on their defensive parade. The difference in outcome tonight? The shots did eventually fall, and in bunches. Riding a second quarter wave that crested joyously in the third, the Warriors put their own touch on March Madness, soaring past a physical Pacers squad in a solid 112-89 win that keeps them just ahead of the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings.

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