Cousins returns, leads Warriors past Pacers
DeMarcus Cousins contributed six points to a third-quarter runaway in his return to the lineup Thursday night, helping the Golden State Warriors blow out the Indiana Pacers 112-89 in Oakland, Calif.
All five starters scored in double figures as the Warriors (49-22), who had lost three of their previous four at home, were able to retain a half-game lead over Denver (48-22) in their duel for best record in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Pacers (44-29) saw their lead over Boston (43-29) trimmed to a half-game in their fight for the fourth seed in the East.
The Warriors used an 18-10 burst late in the second quarter to take a 53-43 halftime advantage before busting the game open early in the third.
Cousins had three hoops, Kevin Durant a 3-pointer and Draymond Green a three-point play in an 11-0 flurry that doubled what had been an 11-point lead, vaulting the hosts into a commanding 70-48 lead just past the midpoint of the third period.
In winning for the fourth time in their last five games, the Warriors went up by as many as 28 before the end of the third quarter, then coasted home.
Cousins, who had missed the final two games of Golden State's just completed four-game trip with a sore ankle, recorded a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double in 26 minutes of action.
Klay Thompson (18 points), Durant (15), Stephen Curry (15), Andre Iguodala (11) and Green (10) also scored in double figures for the Warriors, who had lost their previous home game to Phoenix.
Curry complemented his 15 points with a game-high seven assists. He made five of his 12 3-point shots, nearly single-handedly outscoring the Pacers (6 of 23) from beyond the arc.
Golden State outshot the visitors 49.4 percent to 38.5.
Tyreke Evans had a game-high 20 points off the bench, and Thaddeus Young 18 for the Pacers, who went 0-4 on a Western swing to Denver, Portland and Los Angeles, where they were coming off a 115-109 loss to the Clippers on Tuesday.
Aaron Holiday chipped in with 13 points and Doug McDermott 11 for Indiana, which was swept in the season series by Golden State in rather dominant fashion. The Warriors had won 132-100 at Indiana in January.
The Pacers' Domantas Sabonis was the game's leading rebounder with 12 off the bench to go with five points.
--Field Level Media
