Los Angeles (USA), January 21 (EFE). Dominican Chris Duarte played the best game of his short NBA career and led the Indiana Pacers to upset the Golden State Warriors by Stephen Curry after an extension (117-121). Duarte was the Pacers’ top scorer and had 27 points (10 from 16 shots, 2 of 3 on 3s), 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals (no turns) in 39 minutes as a rookie. With these 27 points, the “rookie” Dominican equaled his best result in the NBA, which was in his first game against the Charlotte Hornets on October 20. But tonight was even more special than his NBA debut. Duarte scored on the team’s court with the second best tally in the entire league (32-13); He led his side to break an impressive team led by a top player like Stephen Curry (39 points tonight), and managed to spot top defenders like Klay Thompson or Andre Iguodala. The Dominicans finished organizational time with 23 points and scored 4 more in overtime, including a massive counterattack plunge after a steal, which was crucial to Indiana’s victory. Once the match was over, US television TNT interviewed him on the ring as the highlight of the match and Duarte noted that “being together” and defending were the “keys” to the Pacers’ victory. “Believe in each other and play hard,” he summed up the recipe for his team’s amazing performance. Duarte, who was picked 13th in the last draft, also commented that his teammates had asked him to take a “step forward” in the face of the Pacers’ many and significant losses. “Thank God I did,” he said. The Pacers are third from the bottom in the Eastern Group (17-29) and have already seemed more focused on transfers and rethinking the future than fighting for something this season. However, they now have two notable wins in two consecutive days, since Wednesday, the bell rang on the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James player, which left them deeply affected and in complete crisis (104-111). Prior to these two wins, the Pacers had won only one of their last ten encounters. The victory over the Warriors has more advantages if you take into account that the Pacers such as Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brugdon, Caris Levert and Miles Turner did not play. In The Warriors, Stephen Curry was the most distinguished (39 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists) while Mexican Juan Toscano Anderson scored 5 points (2 of 5 shots), 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in 15 minutes. Toscano Anderson could have been the Warriors champion as he got a shot in the final seconds of the fourth quarter to prevent overtime, but the layup eventually missed. EFE dvp / ea (photo)
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