Pistons head West to face tough Golden State

Tonight the Detroit Pistons are on the road to the West Coast where they will face the powerful Golden State Warriors, the team with the second-best record in the NBA.

Tonight at 10:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road against the Golden State Warriors. The PIstons are coming off of a thrashing at the hands of Phoenix, which has the best record in the NBA, while the Warriors got obliterated by the Timberwolves last time out. So neither team is coming int othe game with much momentum.

The Basics

• The Warriors come into this game with the 11th ranked offense in the league, scoring 110.5 points per 100 possessions
• The Warriors have the NBA’s best defense allowing just 102.6 points per 100 possessions
• Golden State has the 2nd best True Shooting Percentage in basketball.
• The Warriors have the 12th fastest pace in the league (just behind the Pistons)
• Stephen Curry is currently listed as “probably” for the game tonight
• The Pistons are 5-4 over their last 9 games
• Despite the above, the Pistons losses have come by: 27, 46, 30, and 29 points. Meaning that Despite being 5-9 over their last 9, they are still -10 points per game over that same stretch

The Pistons were not getting too badly embarrassed until Cade Cunningham got ejected,  which was unfortunate because it appeared he was in for a big night. Hopefully, he will come into this one with extra fire in his game.

Stephen Curry’s healthy will be something to monitor.

He is listed as probable but, as we all know, players can play but not be at full health, if he is a bit off his game it will give the Pistons a chance. Draymond Green also remains out of commission for the time being, which will be helpful to Saddiq Bey, who he probably would have guarded.

The last time Detroit played Golden State, they got torched by Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins. There is little indication that they are better equipped to handle either player now, than they were last time so it may well be that the Warriors don’t need a fully functional Steph Curry.

It will be good for the Pistons to stay competitive, even in defeat, if it comes to it. The trend of eking out some victories and then getting slaughtered in losses is a funny quirk but not great for the psychological effects on the team, staying engaged for all four quarters will be important.

Detroit will have basically the same crew that faced the Suns. Frank Jackson and Kelly Olynyk are close to returning, but are out for this game. Jerami Grant is practicing with the Cruise, so he is also still not playing.