SAN FRANCISCO — A hot first half enabled the Detroit Pistons to shut the door on the Golden State Warriors and end their three-game Western Conference road trip with a victory.
They defeated the Warriors 131-124, to improve to 35-12. They were led by Cade Cunningham, who tallied a double-double with 29 points and 11 assists. Jalen Duren also had a double-double, with 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Duncan Robinson (15) and Tobias Harris (15) also scored in double figures.
Steph Curry led the Warriors with 23 points but exited the game with 4:08 left in the third quarter due to right knee soreness. The Pistons were without Caris LeVert (illness) for the fifth straight game.
The Pistons led by 20 points early in the third quarter, with a hook from Cunningham pushing the lead to 88-68 with under nine minutes left in the period. But the Warriors were able to remain in the game thanks to a prolific night from beyond the arc — 52 of their 90 shots were for 3, and they knocked down 18 of them (34.6%).
The Pistons led by 13 to open the fourth quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Buddy Hield and Gui Santos reduced their lead to five, 117-112, with 6:54 to play. Hield followed with a layup to cut it to three, but missed a transition 3-pointer the following possession that would’ve tied the game.
It was as close as the Warriors got. The Pistons knocked down clutch shots down the stretch to hang onto their lead, capped with a split trip at the line by Cunningham with 1:09 to play that made it a two-possession game, 129-124. Daniss Jenkins fouled Hield on a long midrange jumper with his foot on the line with 13.9 seconds left, but Hield missed both free throws.
After shooting 62% in the first half, the Pistons cooled to 33.3% in the second. The Warriors won the fourth quarter, 29-21, but the Pistons were just good enough defensively to hang on by holding them to 41.9% in the final two periods.
Detroit Pistons playoff picture
The win kept the Pistons’ lead in the Eastern Conference over the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics at 5½ games, and at 7½ in the Central Division over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Next up, the Pistons face a lottery contender as they return home, as the Brooklyn Nets (13-34) hit Little Caesars Arena on Sunday (6 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Detroit).
Pistons light up Warriors in first half
After a flat performance against the Suns in Phoenix on Thursday, the Pistons responded with their best opening quarter of the season – 45 points on 19-for-25 (76%) shooting with 16 assists and three turnovers. The Warriors looked slow and disorganized as the Pistons raced up and down the floor and repeatedly found open looks at the rim and from 3.
Robinson rediscovered his outside touch after struggling from 3 (1-for-14) during his previous two games. He knocked down four 3-pointers in the first quarter, the last two back-to-back to cap an 18-8 run that gave the Pistons their first lead.
Cunningham also found his groove immediately, finishing the quarter with eight points and six assists. He and the rest of the Pistons pushed the pace against a Warriors team slow to get back on defense. A touchdown pass to Stewart off a missed 3-pointer from Curry extended their lead to nine, 31-22, with 4:56 on the clock.
At halftime, the Pistons led the Warriors, 77-64 — a point shy of their season-high of 78 first-half points scored against the Sacramento Kings last Sunday. The Warriors cut their lead to five, 61-56, with 5:07 to play until halftime. The Pistons answered with a 16-4 run, pushing their lead to 17 at the 1:01 mark.
Daniss Jenkins solidifying backup point guard role
The two-way guard was on the floor to close out the fourth quarter for the Pistons and put together another performance that highlighted the trust he has from the coaching staff. His numbers were modest — 12 points on 4-for-8 shootingand four assists — but he made several key plays to help the Pistons stay in control.
Jenkins kept their momentum rolling at the end of the first quarter, knocking down a pair of free throws and a layup before capping the period with a lob to Ron Holland off of a backdoor cut, pushing their lead to 11. Late in the third quarter, Jenkins came up with a steal to set up a 3-pointer for Jaden Ivey, and then knocked down a deep 3-pointer himself to push the lead back to 16.
In the fourth period, he answered a hook from Al Horford with a layup to put the Pistons back up six, and then extended their lead to six again with a pair of free throws at the 2:09 mark. There’s a strong chance the Pistons will promote Jenkins from his two-way contract onto a standard deal within the next week, since two-way players can only be active for 50 games. Jenkins’ 50th game will fall on the day of the NBA trade deadline – Thursday, Feb. 5 – against the Washington Wizards.
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X @omarisankofa.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons find shooting stroke in win over Golden State Warriors
