Final Score: Warriors escape Pistons 115-110 with clutch Draymond bomb

EVERYBODY’S GANGSTA UNTIL DRAYMOND STARTS HITTING THREES!

The Golden State Warriors survived at home against a spirited Detroit Pistons effort, sending the Chase Center crowd happy on a Friday night with a 115-110 victory.

Stephen Curry struggled for the majority of the game, but made some tough fourth quarter buckets to keep the Dubs within range. He finished with 32 points on 8-of-22 shooting from the field, 4-of-15 from beyond the arc. He also made all of his 12 free throw attempts for the night. And in a really cool moment, he crossed the 25,000 career points threshold, a major milestone in his magical career.

Jimmy Butler added a big 26 points on the night, while Gui Santos had a strong outing as well with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Draymond Green had a heckuva game in his own right, scoring 12 points, adding 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals and a clutch three-pointer to edge the Warriors ahead in the final seconds.

Golden State shot 41% from the field and 29% from beyond the arc against an excellent Pistons defensive effort. But the Dubs made up for it by getting to the free throw line 41 times, converting 33 of the opportunities.

Meanwhile for Detroit, their young star Cade Cunningham scored 31 points in an effort to will his team to victory, but coughed up 8 turnovers.

First Half

In the first half there was a fire alarm that went off. Apparently it was a false alarm, but it stopped play for a while and the Chase Center crowd got a little restless during the pause.

Probably because there was so little offensive fireworks to enjoy, how could the fire alarm possibly go off? The Pistons were an anemic 40% from the field during the first two quarters, knocking down only 1-of-12 from downtown. But somehow this was better than Golden State’s scoring, as the Dubs were a terrible 36% from the field.

The Pistons are a strong defensive team with rangy, smart defenders who can disrupt both the dribble and the passing lanes. Golden State’s motion offense sometimes grinded to a halt as they open looks were at a premium.

Second Half

The Pistons kept their slight momentum throughout the third period, hounding Curry at every turn. Fortunately Jimmy Butler kept the Dubs in it with his timely buckets. This was the kind of game where isolation bully ball scoring kept coming to the fore, and we know the Dubs acquired Butler exactly for that.

The Warriors had a chance to take a four point lead in the final minute when, up by one, Butler drove and collapsed the defense before finding a wide open Quinten Post in the corner. Unfortunately the big man airballed the shot, and it led to a rampaging layup from Cunningham in traffic.

But Green had other plans, knocking down a big time three-pointer over a contesting defender to put the Dubs up 110-108. Moses Moody then secured a steal and passed it to Green who was fouled. He missed the first free throw, but made the second one to put the Dubs up 111-108.

After that Curry salted the game away with clutch free throws, and that was all she wrote on an exciting Friday night contest.