Golden State Warriors
- Thread starter Ambition209
- Start date
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The Golden State Warriors aren't used to blizzards or early starts.
They had to deal with both Sunday and it didn't go well against Detroit.
Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and Antonio McDyess had 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Pistons never trailed in beating the Warriors 109-87.
"We knew we had a chance to take advantage of them early -- this was a tough scheduling game for them -- and we did a nice job of executing," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.
The game started at 12:30 p.m. and was played in a half-empty arena due to a major snowstorm in Detroit.
"We weren't ready to play, and we got our butts kicked," Stephen Jackson said. "This is definitely uncalled for -- we're a professional team. This is terrible -- you start a road trip and get blasted like this."
Chauncey Billups added 19 points for the Pistons, who have won nine of 11, while Richard Hamilton had 13 points and six assists.
Jackson was the only Warrior to reach double figures, but he scored nine of his 13 points in the first quarter. Golden State's leading scorer, Baron Davis, finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting, as Golden State coach Don Nelson emptied his bench early.
"That's the way it goes sometimes -- we pulled the plug early on this one," Nelson said. "We've got a game tomorrow, and sometimes you have to think beyond just one game. We played the bench and we got a loss, but we were going to get that anyway."
Like Jackson, Davis didn't want to fall back on the early start as an excuse.
"We can't make excuses about the travel and about the time of games," he said. "We could have won this game had we come ready to play."
The Pistons took over with a 28-5 run that consumed most of the second quarter. Jason Maxiell scored the first five points, including two dunks, and Prince later had nine points in just over two minutes.
Hamilton's buzzer-beating jumper gave Detroit a 58-35 halftime lead. McDyess had 12 points and nine rebounds in the half for the Pistons, while Prince scored 13.
"We were able to slow the game down by going into the post," Prince said. "That's the key against a team like Golden State, but you could tell they weren't themselves."
The Warriors finally seemed to come awake at the half, scoring 32 points in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough.
Detroit took a 87-67 lead going into the fourth behind 11 points from Billups and 10 more from Prince. The Warriors never got closer than 19 in the final quarter.
The period did provide one highlight: Maxiell's missed dunk that bounced 20 feet straight up into the air. Rookie Arron Afflalo, who had passed up his own shot to feed Maxiell on the break, was greeted by a rain of towels by his laughing teammates during an ensuing timeout.
"All we've been hearing is about his great hops, and then he doesn't take the dunk," Billups said. "We've still got no evidence that he can dunk. When I was a rookie, I would have dunked that ball, but I'm old now."
They had to deal with both Sunday and it didn't go well against Detroit.
Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and Antonio McDyess had 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Pistons never trailed in beating the Warriors 109-87.
"We knew we had a chance to take advantage of them early -- this was a tough scheduling game for them -- and we did a nice job of executing," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.
The game started at 12:30 p.m. and was played in a half-empty arena due to a major snowstorm in Detroit.
"We weren't ready to play, and we got our butts kicked," Stephen Jackson said. "This is definitely uncalled for -- we're a professional team. This is terrible -- you start a road trip and get blasted like this."
Chauncey Billups added 19 points for the Pistons, who have won nine of 11, while Richard Hamilton had 13 points and six assists.
Jackson was the only Warrior to reach double figures, but he scored nine of his 13 points in the first quarter. Golden State's leading scorer, Baron Davis, finished with two points on 1-of-8 shooting, as Golden State coach Don Nelson emptied his bench early.
"That's the way it goes sometimes -- we pulled the plug early on this one," Nelson said. "We've got a game tomorrow, and sometimes you have to think beyond just one game. We played the bench and we got a loss, but we were going to get that anyway."
Like Jackson, Davis didn't want to fall back on the early start as an excuse.
"We can't make excuses about the travel and about the time of games," he said. "We could have won this game had we come ready to play."
The Pistons took over with a 28-5 run that consumed most of the second quarter. Jason Maxiell scored the first five points, including two dunks, and Prince later had nine points in just over two minutes.
Hamilton's buzzer-beating jumper gave Detroit a 58-35 halftime lead. McDyess had 12 points and nine rebounds in the half for the Pistons, while Prince scored 13.
"We were able to slow the game down by going into the post," Prince said. "That's the key against a team like Golden State, but you could tell they weren't themselves."
The Warriors finally seemed to come awake at the half, scoring 32 points in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough.
Detroit took a 87-67 lead going into the fourth behind 11 points from Billups and 10 more from Prince. The Warriors never got closer than 19 in the final quarter.
The period did provide one highlight: Maxiell's missed dunk that bounced 20 feet straight up into the air. Rookie Arron Afflalo, who had passed up his own shot to feed Maxiell on the break, was greeted by a rain of towels by his laughing teammates during an ensuing timeout.
"All we've been hearing is about his great hops, and then he doesn't take the dunk," Billups said. "We've still got no evidence that he can dunk. When I was a rookie, I would have dunked that ball, but I'm old now."
Pietrus is actually playing better tonight than he has lately. Harrington is gettin on my nerves, he needs to step it up, its been 5-6 games now he's been struggling. Of course the W's cant add to their 10 point lead and brick like 5 shots in a row. I dont know why but they are extra irritating me tonight lol
Im pretty sure they gonna get the win.. these last two games have just seemed boring kinda.. its probably cause the enviroment in oracle arena is crazy and watchin home games is hella better.. plus that last Laker game was real exciting... the dark blue jerseys they wearin on the road are my least favorite.. I like the throwback golden state ones, the orange ones, the white ones all better... im just ramblin tho its halftime i'm hungover from the whole weekend still just gonna watch this second half and pass out ready for tomorrow