Pistons edge out the Warriors in Golden State 111-104

Pistons rookie small forward Sekou Doumbouya (45) posts up Warriors power forward Draymond Green (23) (via Detroit Bad Boys).

Tonight was the match-up of two teams whose seasons have been badly plagued by injuries. Going in to the game, the Pistons were missing key contributors such as Blake Griffin, Luke Kennard, Markieff Morris and still Reggie Jackson. On the flip side, the Warriors are missing Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Deangelo Russell, and Kevon Looney. The game was going to be won with energy; luckily, the Pistons brought that tonight.

For the entirety of the first quarter, both teams were very paced. Patience was key and both teams were exemplifying that. Neither were able to really distance themselves and although the pace did pick up in the second period, the Pistons only trailed by three at halftime. Although they had opened up their offense and they were getting good looks, the defense was suffering by playing up-tempo and the Pistons were allowing Golden State to do pretty much whatever they wanted on offense. Sekou Doumbouya was our leading scorer at the break with 11 points.

Coming out of halftime breaks this season, the Pistons have tended to go cold, which has been one of their biggest problems this season. However, lucky for them they came out in the third this game red hot. The ball movement was incredible, guys were making crisp passes and on top of that the team was playing great defense on the other end of the floor. Golden State started the third only 2/12 from the field, which resulted in Detroit being able to grasp a 77-68 lead with 4:41 remaining in the quarter. Despite this though, an Andre Drummond fifth personal foul and needing him to be subbed out of the game allowed the Warriors to go on a little run and cut the Pistons lead to just three heading into the final period, 83-80.

The Pistons kept their energy high in the final period though, continuing all of the great things they did in the third. With Draymond Green out of the game for Golden State, as he had been ejected late in the third while arguing a foul call (no shocker here), the Pistons were able to put together little runs here and there that were enough to grab a comfortable win over Golden State 111-104. The team played together and showed a clear desire to win this game, which is what they have to do every night if they want to continue winning games while under-manned. Pistons player of the game was rookie Sekou Doumbouya who in his second career start logged 16 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks, was a +19 in 38 minutes of action and snagged his second consecutive double-double.

The teams next contest comes in Los Angeles against the Lakers tonight, 01/05/2020, where they will need even more execution and energy if they want to come out with back-to-back wins.