The Golden State Warriors outworked the Detroit Pistons 121-114 in a battle of two teams playing on the second half of back-to-backs. Stephen Curry led the Dubs in scoring with 26 points, Klay Thompson added 24, while Kevin Durant and Draymond Green both tallied 14 points each. Durant and Green were heady passers as well, 11 and 8 assists respectively.
Blake Griffin led the Pistons with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Iguodala missed the game for load management, but in the end it didn’t cost the champs. Also, old friend Zaza Pachulia got his 2018 championship ring!
First Half
The first half was filled with some stellar basketball on both sides, which is to be expected seeing as though they both expect to compete in the postseason. Durant was looking like a real point forward early on, dissecting the defense with his passing, and torching them with his isolation offense when no other Warrior was open.
It was like watching a surgeon, or a master painter, using the entire arena as a canvas for his basketball brilliance. He had 9 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 7 assists after two quarters.
Thompson led the Warriors with 15 points. Green scored 9 points in the second quarter, and worked to make life difficult for Detroit’s rumbling power forward Blake Griffin. It was amazing watching these two rivals attempt to coldly one-up the other on both ends of the court. Griffin had 8 points and 3 assists after two quarters.
The Warriors shot 63% from the field at the half, and 61% from three-point range (8-of-13).
Warriors 63, Pistons 49
Second Half
The third quarter had some crowd amping highlights.
Green wrestled Griffin into a jumpball at midcourt and had no problem telling the fans how to celebrate (with a few choice expletives).
The Warriors held on down the stretch despite the Pistons desperately fighting back. The champs finished the game shooting 61% from the field while limiting Detroit to 46%. It looks like the champs are finding that defensive switch whenever they feel like winning.
Oh yeah, and the Dubs are back in first place in the Western Conference because Denver got blown out by Indiana.