Let’s talk about organizational devastation, Dub Nation. The Indiana Pacers aren’t just experiencing a rough start to the season. They’re living through what might be the cruelest basketball narrative arc imaginable: pushing the Thunder to Game 7 of the Finals, losing franchise cornerstone Tyrese Haliburton to a torn Achilles that night, then watching their season unravel before it truly begins.
Now they’re winless on the season at 0-5. Haliburton’s gone for the year. Myles Turner’s sidelined. The injury report reads like a hospital ward, with Obi Toppin, Andrew Nembhard, Bennedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell, and Johnny Furphy all out. They’re playing the second night of a back-to-back. This should be a layup for Golden State.
Which is precisely why this screams trap game.
**Golden State Warriors at Indiana Pacers**
**When:** Saturday, November 1st, 2025 | 4:00 PM PT
**Where:** Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
The Warriors organizational machine deserves recognition for what they’ve accomplished around Steph Curry. While other franchises fumble rebuilds or waste their stars’ primes, Golden State added Jimmy Butler III and kept this aging core competitive. That takes vision, aggressive front office work, and the willingness to bet everything on championship windows that conventional wisdom says have closed.
But Thursday night in Milwaukee reminded that these dudes are indeed human and can be beat on any night, marquee opponent or not. Without Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor, the Warriors fell 120-110 to a Bucks team that shouldn’t have beaten them. Former Warrior Ryan Rollins dropped a career-high 32 points, and suddenly Golden State is starting the road trip off on the wrong foot.
The math here is brutal for Indiana. Pascal Siakam, fresh off his Eastern Conference Finals MVP performance where he averaged 24.8 points on ridiculous efficiency, is now shouldering an offensive burden no single player can carry. Draymond Green will get another crack at defending one of his toughest career matchups, and the Pacers simply don’t have the firepower to counter when Butler and Curry find their rhythm.
But trap games don’t announce themselves with logic. Indiana’s season might already be cooked. That doesn’t mean they can’t ruin Golden State’s Saturday night. The Warriors need to approach this with the urgency of an important game, not the casualness of an expected victory.
Sometimes the most dangerous opponent is the one with nothing left to lose.
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