The Detroit Pistons lost to the Golden State Warriors in Oracle arena 121-114. Here are three takeaways from the Pistons second straight loss.
The Detroit Pistons suffered their second straight loss to the Golden State Warriors by the score of 121-114.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points and nine rebounds, and Klay Thompson chipped in 24 points on 10-17 shooting. Kevin Durant only took six shots this game and scored 14 points, but showed off his play-making ability, chipping in 11 assists for Golden State.
The Pistons never led after the first quarter and found themselves down by as much as 21 points in the fourth quarter. The Pistons now find themselves in the seventh seed and only one game ahead of the eighth seeded Miami Heat and only two games ahead of the Orlando Magic.
In a game that seemed over at halftime, here are three takeaways from the loss.
The Pistons showed heart
The Detroit Pistons found themselves down by as much as 21 points in the fourth quarter, but they kept fighting. A bench lineup that included Ish Smith, Luke Kennard, and Thon Maker led a comeback against the Warriors.
Maker hit a three from the wing and followed it up with a pull up jumper to cut the lead to only nine points with five minutes left. Maker would finish the game with 12 points, six rebounds, and was a team high +7 on the court.
Kennard went bonkers in the second half and was letting it fly, which is good to see after he seemed a bit hesitant in the first half. Kennard had smooth step-back jumper on Klay Thompson and hit two threes in fourth quarter run. Kennard would finish with 20 points, three rebounds, two steals, and shot 8-12 from the field and 3-4 from deep.
Detroit Pistons back-court struggles
The Pistons back-court had almost zero production come from Wayne Ellington and Reggie Jackson. Both only played respectively 20 minutes tonight, and didn’t make much of a positive contribution at all.
Jackson only had seven points on 3-9 shooting. The Pistons didn’t run much pick and roll with Jackson today, which is shocking given Jackson’s improved play. This left Jackson spotting up most of the game, where he shot only 1-4 from deep. He was forced into going 1-on-1 when he did get the ball, and it didn’t help the Pistons.
Ellington had three points on 1-5 shooting. Ellington isn’t going to bring much else to the court for the Pistons outside of his shooting, so when he struggles it’s a bit frustrating. He was exposed against the Warriors on defense, but who isn’t exposed against the best team ever assembled?
Pistons bench continues to play well
As mentioned above, the Pistons made a run in the fourth quarter to make the game somewhat interesting down the stretch.
Everyone off the bench, besides Kennard, had a positive +/- and outscored the Warriors bench 62-35. Langston Galloway continued his strong play since the All-Star break, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting.
Ish Smith was a bit hot and cold this game. Smith started the comeback for the Pistons with his fast pace style of play, and had the Warriors backpedaling. However, when Casey worked in Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, Smith had the ball in his hands a bit too much and took a few too many shots that you’d like.
He finished with 14 points and four assists, but took 14 shots to get there.
Zaza Pachulia, who received his championship ring for last years title before the game, had a nice game after really struggling the game before against the Portland Trailblazers. Pachulia had four assists and continued to set hard screens that created easy looks for guards running off of them.
What’s concerning with Zaza however, is the lack of rebounding coming from his the last two games. He has a combined three rebounds in the last two games, and it’s no coincidence the Pistons have lost the rebounding battle both games.
Outside of Drummond, the Detroit Pistons haven’t gotten any kind of help on the glass and it has killed them the last two games.
The Pistons will be back in action on Tuesday at 9:00pm against the Denver Nuggets. The Pistons need to get a sense of urgency going, as it’s getting a bit too close for comfort in the playoff race. The Magic and the Heat are on their way, and the Pistons need to get a win to keep its distance.