Quinn Cook knocked in a jumper with 5:01 remaining in the first half to put the Warriors up 15, their biggest margin of the night.
Twenty-nine minutes and a second later, the final buzzer sounded and the Pacers had 92, and the Warriors, 81.
Indiana went on a 10-4 run to close the second quarter and opened the third with an 11-2 run to knot the game at 50 with 9:04 to go.
“When they turned up their defense in the third quarter, we weren’t ready to respond to that,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “I give the Pacers credit. Their defense changed the game in the second half.”
Golden State scored just 33 points in the final 24 minutes, and while seven players notched at least eight points, Nick Young’s 12 was the highest for a team desperately missing its four All-Stars.
A 41 percent shooting night on 29 percent from deep didn’t help the Dubs’ case either, while their nine free-throw attempts, according to Kerr, is a result of their depleted roster.
“When you look at our lineup, we don’t have a lot of guys out there who are going to draw fouls,” Kerr said.
Stephen Curry (knee), Klay Thompson (finger), Draymond Green (sickness) and Kevin Durant (ribs) all sat out against the Pacers. It was the second time the foursome missed a game, and the second time the Warriors lost as a result.
But Durant, who was shooting around prior to Tuesday’s tip off, wanted to play against Indiana, and should be cleared for Thursday’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks.
“He’s doing great. He wanted to play tonight (Tuesday), but we didn’t let him,” Kerr said pregame Tuesday. “We’ll probably let him play Thursday.”
The only positives for Golden State in the loss were Kevon Looney and Andre Iguodala. Looney, in 27 minutes, had eight points, 11 rebounds and two blocks and looked confident and mobile on the floor. Iguodala, in his 14th NBA season, shot 5/10 from the field and had Oracle in a frenzy after a late third-quarter steal that led to a breakaway dunk.
Thursday’s game tips off at 7:30 PM in Oakland.