I was really looking forward

[chenyan94]

LOS ANGELES — Two things Clayton Kershaw clearly hates: Being on the disabled list and having pitch restrictions while on the mound.

The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ left-hander might be done with both when he takes the mound Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kershaw will be making his third start since coming off the disabled list for his most recent back injury and has been trending in a positive direction.

What Kershaw would like to see is more of the offense the Dodgers showed in Monday’s series opener , when the club scored 17 runs on 21 hits in an easy victory.

Tasked with slowing that offense at Dodger Stadium, while matching Kershaw pitch for pitch, will be Pirates right-hander Ian Nova.

If Kershaw is almost all the way back on top after an injury, Nova is there already. In four starts since coming off the DL because of a sprained right finger, Nova is 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA.

Kershaw is only this far along in his return from the DL because the Dodgers pulled a last-minute switch on June 23, and had him pitch in New York against the Mets instead of with Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab outing.

Kershaw threw 55 pitches against the Mets, giving up two runs on five hits over three innings. On June 28 against the Chicago Cubs, Kershaw was back at it, throwing 68 pitches while giving up one run on four hits over five innings.

A natural progression would have Kershaw at about 80 pitches on Tuesday, but Kershaw has a way of getting more out of himself when the situation requires it.

“I’ve proven that I’m healthy,” Kershaw told reporters after his most recent start. “So now, next time out I’m sure the restriction should hopefully be pretty close to off. (I will) get ready and just try to beat an opponent.”

Nova has thrown between 86 and 94 pitches in his four starts since coming off the DL and has given up one or no runs in three of those outings. The one where he did not was on Wednesday at New York. But he did hold the Mets to three runs over six innings, keeping the Pirates close enough to put together a ninth-inning rally for a victory.

That victory was part of a Pirates run where they won four of six games and took series at New York and San Diego. Sure there was a five-game losing streak before that, but going back even further, the Pirates had won four of five.

So even though they were roughed up by the Dodgers on Monday, the Pirates have learned the value of resiliency.

“We’re well aware of what we need to improve upon,” manager Clint Hurdle said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re well aware of our monthly progress and then some of our monthly challenges. Love the fact that the game brings attention to specific areas, daily, weekly, monthly, and then I love to watch how some guys are able to fight and battle and work through it.”

Up next is a challenge against Kershaw , who is 2-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 career starts against Pittsburgh. The Pirates are one of two National League teams Kershaw has a losing record against in the regular season, along with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nova knows his way around the Dodgers, going 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts, one in each of the previous two seasons.

The Indiana Pacers looked playoff-ready Thursday night against a Golden State team that’s still working on it.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 28 points on a nearly perfect shooting night, Victor Oladipo added 21 and the Pacers pulled away from the short-handed defending champions for a 126-106 blowout – and their first season sweep of the Warriors since 2011-12.

”We’re the underdog in every matchup,” Oladipo said. ”We’ve just got to continue to keep getting better. We still have room to get better, especially going into the playoffs.”

It’s hard to imagine how much better the Pacers can play after dominating the three-time defending Western Conference champs, who played their seventh straight game without Stephen Curry due to a left MCL sprain.

The Pacers shot better than the high-scoring Warriors inside and outside the 3-point line. They outrebounded Golden State and held Klay Thompson scoreless in the second half. They took the lead for good on Lance Stephenson’s 3 with 9:46 left in the first half and never allowed Golden State to get closer than 10 after halftime.

After falling into a 21-point deficit with 7:14 left, Warriors coach Steve Kerr pulled five players, including Kevin Durant, leaving them on the bench for the rest of the game before delivering his blunt postgame assessment.

”I think just caring, caring in general, that was the main problem,” he said. ”Just in general, it’s hard to win an NBA game if you don’t put forth an effort at all. Yeah, I’m mad. I’m embarrassed. I know that this game doesn’t mean anything in the seeding, but the playoffs start next week. It was an embarrassing effort, a pathetic effort.”

Indiana took full advantage.

The Pacers became the first Eastern Conference team to sweep the Warriors since 2013-14. They earned their sixth win in seven games and their second in nine days over Golden State.

Indiana also moved a half-game closer to supplanting Philadelphia for the No. 4 seed.

Sure, the Pacers did all that against a team missing Curry, but that’s something Golden State must solve.

”It’s tough to turn it on, especially when you’re missing a guy like Steph,” Shaun Livingston said. ”We’ve got to challenge ourselves. Hopefully , that’s how we can get this started.”

Durant had 27 points, five rebounds and seven assists, and Thompson finished with 16 as Golden State’s three-game winning streak ended.

The Warriors were never really close after the early moments of the second quarter.

Indiana pulled out to a 52-42 lead late in the second quarter, made it 62-51 at halftime and led by 21 during the third quarter before Golden State opened the fourth with 10 straight points to cut the deficit to 97-87.

Indiana answered with seven straight and closed it out with a 10-0 spurt.

TIP-INS

Warriors: Have lost three series this season. Only seven teams have beaten them twice – Houston, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Denver, Utah, Portland and Indiana. … Golden State could have tied Phoenix’s NBA record for best road mark (14-1) by a Western Conference team against Eastern Conference opponents. Golden State wound up 13-2. … Thompson was 4 of 9 on 3s to move past Tim Hardaway (1,542) for 25th on the league’s career list. Thompson has 1,545.

Pacers: Have five wins against last year’s NBA finalists – two over Golden State and three over runner-up Cleveland. … Oladipo extended his streak of consecutive games with a steal to 62. It’s the sixth longest streak in league history. … Oladipo had six rebounds, seven assists and three steals, setting a franchise record with six straight games with three or more steals. … Bogdanovic was 11 of 13 from the field and 6 of 7 on 3s. … Thad Young had 16 points and eight rebounds.

INJURY UPDATE

Golden State guard Patrick McCaw will miss at least four weeks after being diagnosed with a bruised spine. Then he will be re-evaluated, the team said in a statement.

McCaw was injured on a frightful fall Saturday at Sacramento. He was released from a hospital Sunday after preliminary tests showed no structural damage or problems with his nervous system. Additional exams revealed no neurological damage, but he didn’t make the trip to Indianapolis.

He averages 4.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

HE SAID IT

”I was really looking forward to playing them with their roster tonight, just to see where we were,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. ”I thought our guys responded to the challenge of the things we needed to do defensively.”

UP NEXT

Warriors: Host New Orleans on Saturday, looking for their 11th straight win in the series.

Pacers: Will try to end an eight-game road losing streak at Toronto on Friday.

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