ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Detroit Pistons (5-1), with center Andre Drummond averaging 20 points and 20 rebounds through their first six games, were in town to face the Golden State Warriors (7-0).
Andrew Bogut finally cleared concussion protocol and interim head coach Luke Walton said he would play tonight, although Festus Ezeli would get the start.
Ian Clark was listed as inactive. The Pistons were without Brandon Jennings (left Achilles rehab) and Jodie Meeks (right foot fracture).
1st Quarter – Masked Man Returns
The Warriors got off to a strong start with an 8-0 run after Drummond made the first basket with a nice spin and jumper on the baseline over Ezeli.
Stephen Curry got a steal by knocking a pass from the paint out to the perimeter loose, then ending the sequence with a one-legged runner on the other end.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Drummond missed inside with Curry pestering him, with Reggie Jackson not posing a threat from 25 feet away, and Draymond Green brought the ball up, saw that Ezeli had gotten some space versus Drummond, and Green lofted a mini-lob to Festus for the layup.
Klay Thompson then scored two straight buckets on a jumper then, after Marcus Morris missed a jumper, got the ball on the right wing in transition and juked Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with a crossover, finishing a layup near the right baseline.
Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy took a timeout to stop Detroit’s bleeding. Meanwhile, #Roaracle gave a nice hand as Tim Hardaway, former Warrior great and now assistant coach under Van Gundy, was shown on the jumbotron. Hardaway gave the crowd an acknowledgement.
The Pistons kept pace out of the timeout, but a two-hand smash by Ezeli courtesy of a Curry righty sling pass, an emphatic volleyball swat by Festus of a Caldwell-Pope drive, and a Draymond coast-to-coast rebound of a missed shot by Drummond ended with a reverse layup, putting the Warriors up, 16-12, with 4:31 to go in the opening stanza.
Andrew Bogut, who checked in to a nice hand from #Roaracle, was extremely effective off the bench, disrupting Drummond at the rim twice and getting his own shots at the rim as well, with a putback lefty off a missed floater by Curry right off the bat.
Bogut then scored a bucket on a double-lob: a mini-lob by Curry to Green, who then lobbed it to Bogut, who put up a shot that was goaltended by Drummond.
Curry picked clean former Warrior Steve Blake, who was in for , then got fouled hard by Stanley Johnson, then missed the second of two free throws.
Harrison Barnes capped off the quarter with a step-back three from a pass on early offense by Shaun Livingston, after another Morris miss.
Finally, Bogut disrupted Drummond again and at the other end of the floor, passed out from down low to Andre Iguodala who hit a contested three-pointer over Caldwell-Pope.
Catch, shoot, SPLASH! #DubNation (@CSNAuthentic) pic.twitter.com/LJBXmy1Fg3
— Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) November 10, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
That gave the a 27-15 lead heading into the second frame.
2nd Quarter – Bench Unit Squanders Lead
The Pistons went on a 14-4 run to open the second period. Marreese Speights and Livingston missed shots, despite a nice one-handed Iguodala dunk in early transition, and it wasn’t until Curry checked back in after a Blake three that the Warriors broke the spell.
By then, Detroit had fought back to a 34-29 deficit.
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
Another Warrior great, Nate Thurmond was then shown on the jumbotron and Oracle gave him a loud cheer. Thurmond had recorded 42 rebounds exactly fifty years ago to the day, ironically against the Pistons.
Golden State finished out the first half with the following highlights:
- Curry crossover then drive left-handed on the left side with a lefty scoop finish high off the glass,
- Baseline out-of-bounds play from Curry to Green to Thompson for a stop-and-pop, which made it 43-35 with 4:03 remaining,
- An Iguodala reverse layup with the harm,
- After a Jackson three, Klay with a catch-and-pull triple wide open from the right wing, facilitated by Iguodala pushing up the ball, and
- Curry with the penetration from the right side top, scissoring through the lane for a lefty reverse in traffic.
Steph with the subtle brilliance: pic.twitter.com/LDOFjnPUMe
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 10, 2015
https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js
//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js
Jackson missed a three at the buzzer over Thompson and the Warriors took a 55-46 lead into halftime.
Klay led the Dubs with 11 points on 5-for-9 field, Curry added 10 but shot just 4-for-10, and Iguodala was 4-for-7 for 10 points.
Jackson led the Pistons with 12 points and Drummond tallied just 6 points and 5 rebounds.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
