Programming note: Pacers-Warriors coverage starts tonight at 7 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and streaming live right here
OAKLAND -- It will be a clash of styles Wednesday night at Oracle Arena, where the fast and flashy Warriors will be waiting for the slow and stodgy Indiana Pacers.
The Warriors (27-5) are off to their best start in franchise history and will try to extend their home win streak to 13. The Pacers (14-22) visit in the finale of a four-game road trip during which they have won two of three.
[RELATED: NBA standings]
Indiana leads the NBA in scoring defense, allowing only 96.1 points per game. That's a bit deceptive, though, because their deliberate style lends itself to low-scoring games. The Pacers are 26th in scoring offense, averaging 94.9 points per game.
"They're a tough team to try to score on, so we've got to get the tempo going, try to get out in transition," coach Steve Kerr said. "If we can make stops, that'll allow us to get out and run and get into our flow."
OPENING LINE
Warriors by 11
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes vs. David West -- West is a physical power forward who is comfortable with contact. He's not a great defensive player, though, so Green can torch him from beyond the arc. Barnes also is likely to defend West.
Marreese Speights vs. Roy Hibbert -- It's a physical mismatch, the 7-foot-2 Hibbert towering over Speights by five inches. Hibbert roams the paint, hoping to block or discourage shots. Speights prefers to be out on the elbow, where he should have room against the plodding Indy big man.
KEYS TO VICTORY
1-Turn on the jets -- The Warriors will do all they can to make this about speed, because they realize the Pacers won't be able to keep up.
2-Hands high, to the sky -- Indy is one of the league's poorer shooting clubs. Their pedestrian numbers are even worse when opponents play them tightly.
3-Limit second-chance points -- The Warriors are a slightly better rebounding team, but the bigger Pacers realize they need all they can get in the paint.
LAST 10
Warriors 7-3. Pacers 6-4.
QUOTABLE
"If we come out and have energy and intensity, and play the way we've been playing, we feel like we'll be fine against anybody." – Stephen Curry
INJURY REPORT
Warriors -- C Andrew Bogut (chondromalacia/bone edema, right knee) and C Festus Ezeli (sprained left ankle) are listed as out.
Pacers -- G Paul George (fractured right tibia and fibula), G George Hill (left groin strain) and F Ian Mahinmi (torn left plantar fascia) are listed as out.
SERIES HISTORY
The teams have split the season series in nine of the past 12 seasons. The Warriors have won five of the last seven meetings in Oakland but have not won the series since 2000-01, when they swept two games.
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