The Golden State Warriors get an opportunity to avenge one of their earlier road defeats while at the same time continuing a remarkable homestand when they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
The Warriors got 32 points from Stephen Curry and 30 from Jordan Poole, but it wasn’t enough in a 128-114 loss at Detroit in October. Four Pistons, including Cade Cunningham with 23 points, scored in double figures.
Neither Curry nor Cunningham will be available for the rematch. Meanwhile, Golden State will have one of its top weapons back — Klay Thompson — who was not available in the October meeting.
The Warriors attempt to avoid their first season-series sweep at the hands of the Pistons since the 2008-09 campaign.
The Warriors, whose road record (3-16) nearly mirrors their home mark (17-2), have prevailed over Charlotte and Utah in their only two previous revenge matchups in San Francisco against teams that had beaten them on the road.
Golden State has gone 5-0 on its current eight-game homestand, with the last four victories all coming by six or fewer points. The winning streak tipped off with a 123-109 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies on Christmas.
Monday’s 143-141, double-overtime victory over the Hawks was the most entertaining of the tightly contested bunch. Golden State was a second away from losing in regulation before Donte DiVincenzo turned a deflection into a game-tying 3-pointer. The Dubs were even closer to a third overtime before Kevon Looney tipped in his own miss for the game-winner at the horn of the second extra session.
The dramatic night featured Thompson’s 54 points, the second most of his career, Looney’s 20 rebounds, his most in a regular-season game, and Draymond Green’s double-double, which consisted of 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
“We’ve built an M.O., which is being gritty,” Green said afterward. “No matter what the situation is, we are a team that is going to keep fighting. I don’t think this team had built an identity all year, and we are starting to build one. It’s coming at a great time.”
While the Warriors were celebrating another win, the Pistons were falling for the second time in three outings at the start of a five-game trip, 135-106 in Portland.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 points in the loss, which was marred by yet another setback when Marvin Bagley III had to leave the game with what appeared to be a serious injury to his right hand. The Pistons are expected to know the full extent of the damage by the time they take the floor without him Wednesday.
Detroit already has lost Cunningham for the season with a left-shin stress fracture and also has been missing Isaiah Livers with a sprained right shoulder.
Recently demoted to the bench, Bagley had 18 points and 10 rebounds when the Pistons won at Minnesota on Saturday on the second game of their trip.
With Killian Hayes set to return from his three-game suspension, Detroit almost surely will have a different starting lineup than the one it employed in Portland. Coach Dwane Casey has indicated more changes are coming.
“It’s evident that we’re not coming out with the right approach,” he said of second halves in general. “I’ve got to look at it, our staff has to look at it, to see what we can do to tweak and come out with a different lineup in the second half, or even the starting unit.”
–Field Level Media