The Golden State Warriors began a four-game road trip on Thursday night by visiting a red-hot Detroit Pistons team. Since the Dubs were coming off consecutive one-sided home losses in which they had about as much energy as a college kid early on Saturday morning, it was fair to wonder what type of team would show up: another lifeless one, or a spirited and inspired team.
Thankfully it was the latter. Despite playing without Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski, and Gary Payton II, the Warriors played impressively and full of live, and left Detroit with a 107-104 victory … and a winning record once more.
It didn’t start out well, though. After Buddy Hield — starting in place of Wiggins — scored on the opening possession, the Warriors ceded a 12-2 run. The Warriors answered with some exceptional defense, led by Draymond Green, but were struggling to score. They managed to respond with a 6-0 run, but Detroit called timeout and answered with a 5-0 run of their own.
Interestingly, the Warriors were all about the paint to start the game. Their first 14 points came in the pain, and they missed their first six three-point attempts. It wasn’t until Gui Santos — thrust into big action with the team so short-handed — knocked in a triple with about four minutes left that the Dubs made a shot from distance. That was part of a 15-5 run that gave the Warriors lead, which was sparked by Santos and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The quarter ended in grinding affair, with the Warriors narrowly leading 25-23.
The Warriors had just one three in the first quarter, but came out firing in the second. Steph Curry drained a three on the first possession, and Santos one on the second possession. The threes kept coming, and a Hield triple a few possessions later made it 37-28 and forced a Pistons timeout.
Golden State was playing very hard, which was a sight for sore eyes, even though the execution wasn’t great. But the execution was great for Santos, who had a breakout game. Santos did it all, draining threes, making extra passes, grabbing steals, chasing down rebounds and loose balls, drawing charges, and sparking the team. On one sequence he made a three on one end of the court and drew a charge on the other end, which led to a Lindy Waters III triple, pushing the lead to 13 points with about five minutes left. A 16-2 run sparked by those two players made it a 53-35 lead with a few minutes left, but then they started leaking oil. Detroit chipped away, and it was just a 10-point lead at halftime.
It was another strong start to a quarter in the third. Hield had the first eight points for the Dubs, who went on a 13-6 run to take a 70-53 lead and force a timeout. But the Pistons answered with an 11-0 run, showing they wouldn’t go anywhere. It again turned into a grind, with Detroit continually threatening. Kevon Looney, who saw a lot of action, helped keep the Warriors in it, but Detroit was closing in. It was an 82-74 lead as we went to the fourth quarter.
From there, Detroit kept chipping away, and quickly got to within four points. A few minutes later, a scuffle broke out, with double techs on Dennis Schröder and Isaiah Stewart. Kelenna Azubuike remarked on the broadcast that we’d find out which team was fired up by that, and the answer was the Warriors. They put together a 10-0 run, and eventually built the lead back to 18 points. It looked like they were going to coast to a victory, but a scrappy Pistons team had other ideas.
Detroit answered with a 10-0 run of their own as Cade Cunningham absolutely started to dominate. The momentum shifted, and you could feel the panic from the Dubs.
The Pistons cut the lead to just four points with 1:15 left, but Schröder answered with a bucket. As he did all quarter, Cunningham answered by drawing a pair of free throws and making them both with just under a minute remaining, bringing the margin back to four points.
Golden State responded with a bittersweet possession, as they used 23 seconds but ultimately turned the ball over. Detroit answered with a bittersweet possession of their own, with Malik Beasley driving down the lane for an uncontested dunk, but only after the team had blown a chance at a two-for-one.
That meant we moved to the foul game. The Warriors did a good job playing keep-away and getting the ball to Curry, who was fouled with 14.6 seconds and made both, pushing the lead back to four. They fouled Cunningham with 11.3 seconds remaining and, after making the first free throw, he missed the second. Santos — in the closing lineup — grabbed the rebound and was fouled, leading to just his third and fourth free throws of the season.
He calmly made the first, pushing the lead back to four points, but missed the second. On the ensuing play, Schröder made a poor play and fouled Cunningham, who made the first free throw. Then Detroit went to the good old fashioned purposeful miss, at which point chaos ensued.
Cunningham chucked the ball at the backboard, got his own rebound, and immediately passed it out so the Pistons could get a game-tying three-point attempt. But the officiating crew ruled that Cunningham’s “shot” had not hit the rim, which is a violation. They went to replay review, where they determined that the ball had hit the rim. Detroit would inbound the ball with 4.1 seconds remaining, down three.
The bad break for the Pistons turned into a good break, when their ATO yielded a wide-open three for Beasley. But they couldn’t capitalize on the poor defense by the Warriors, as Beasley missed the triple, and the Warriors escaped with a 107-104 win.
Hield quietly led the Warriors with 19 points, while Curry (17 points and 10 rebounds) and Jackson-Davis (14 points and 10 rebounds) both added double-doubles. But Santos was the story for the Dubs, as he finished with 13 points on just 4-for-6 shooting with five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He did have four turnovers, but most were the result of not being quite on the same page as his teammates, who he doesn’t get to share the court with very often. And his defense was awesome.
The Warriors move to 19-18 on the year and will try to add to that tomorrow night, when they visit the Indiana Pacers at 4:00 p.m. PT.
