Game Preview: Warriors vs. Pistons - 1/4/22

DUBS ON A RUN
The Warriors are five games deep into an eight-game homestand, matching the longest home stretch in franchise history, and from a results standpoint, it couldn’t have gone better. The Dubs are 5-0 so far on the homestand, marking their longest winning streak of the season, and they’re two games over .500 at 20-18, also matching the best they’ve been all season. The Warriors will look to keep that streak alive on Wednesday as they host the Pistons in this season’s second and final head-to-head meeting between the two clubs. Detroit took the first meeting, 128-114, on their home floor on Oct. 30, as Saddiq Bey’s season-high 28 points led four total Pistons players with 20-plus points. That loss fell on the back end of a back-to-back for the Warriors during a five-game road trip, and they’ll look to return the favor on Wednesday as they look to build upon their NBA-best 17-2 home record.

ANDREW WIGGINS BOBBLEHEAD GIVEAWAY
The first 10,000 fans in attendance of Wednesday’s game will receive an Andrew Wiggins bobblehead, courtesy of ampm. The bobblehead commemorates Wiggins’ soaring dunks, including the iconic slam in Dallas in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

LAST TIME OUT
The first game of 2023 had plenty of fireworks, as Klay Thompson put up a season-high 54 points, Donte DiVincenzo made a last-second 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and Kevon Looney ensured the Warriors’ winning streak stayed intact as his buzzer-beating putback lifted the Dubs to a 143-141 win over the Hawks in double overtime. » Full Game Recap

PREVIOUS GAME STARTERS
GSW: Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney
DET: Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren

INJURY & ROSTER NOTES
GSW: Patrick Baldwin Jr. (right ankle bursitis) is probable. Stephen Curry (left shoulder subluxation), JaMychal Green (right lower leg infection), Andre Iguodala (left hip injury management), Jonathan Kuminga (sprained right foot), Andrew Wiggins (non-COVID illness) and James Wiseman (sprained left ankle) are out. Team Notes
DET: Marvin Bagley III (fractured right hand), Cade Cunningham (left tibia stress fracture) and Isaiah Livers (sprained right shoulder) are out. Team Notes

WILD FINISHES
The Warriors opened the homestand with one of their most complete efforts of the season, a 123-109 victory over the Grizzlies on Christmas evening. Since then, the team has used some fourth quarter, and overtime, magic to pull out some improbable victories. It started with the Dec. 27 vs. Charlotte, when the Dubs lost what was an 18-point third quarter lead and needed a series of clutch shots to beat the Hornets. And the next three games saw the Warriors come back from at least nine points down against Utah on Dec. 28, Portland on Friday and Atlanta on Monday. The Dubs closed out the Jazz with a 15-6 run over the final seven minutes of the game and in similar fashion, beat the Trail Blazers with a 16-2 game-closing run. But Monday’s win may have been the most dramatic of all, with the Warriors turning a 21-point lead in the second quarter into a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and needing multiple buzzer-beaters at the end of the period to prolong and eventually win the game.

Regardless of how they got there, the Dubs have strung together some wins, and they’ve done so without Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, the team’s two All-Stars from last season. The Warriors have now won six of their last eight games, which certainly bodes well with both Curry and Wiggins inching closer toward a return to game action.

DETROIT SCOUTING REPORT
The Pistons come into Chase Center on Wednesday playing the fourth game of a five-game road trip. Detroit has lost eight of its last 10 games and now have the league’s worst record (10-30). To add injury to insult, Cade Cunningham recently underwent surgery to stabilize a left tibial stress fracture and Marvin Bagley III injured his right hand in Monday’s loss in Portland. But still, Detroit has a number of weapons, several of which they showed the Warriors back on Oct. 30. Bojan Bogdanovic is averaging a career-high 20.8 points per game and has led the team in scoring in 15 of the 27 games that Cunningham, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has been out with injury, and former Warrior Alec Burks (14.2ppg) leads a reserve unit that just had the highest-scoring month of any NBA team in nearly three years. Part of what makes the Pistons a potentially dangerous team is their ability to get the free throw line. Detroit ranks first in the NBA in free throws attempted per game (27.7), and the Pistons went 34-for-38 on free throws in their last game against the Dubs.