Stephen Curry had 27 points in his return to action, but it wasn't enough in the Dubs' loss in Detroit.
The Dubs had a trio of 20-point scorers but couldn’t put together an extended run to overcome a slow start in Saturday’s 111-102 loss in Detroit.
TEAM LEADERS
If one play signified the defeat, it came at the end of the third quarter. After Durant made a free throw to make it a four point game with 5.7 seconds left, the Pistons inbounded the ball to Ish Smith, who sprinted down the court before finding Stanley Johnson open in the corner. Johnson promptly drilled the 3-pointer as time expired on the period, putting the Dubs down seven to start the fourth.
Stephen Curry returned from an 11-game absence with a strained left groin, and although it took him a while to get going, he got it going in the second half and finished with 27 points. Kevin Durant paced the Dubs with 28 points and seven assists, while Klay Thompson added 21 points, his eighth straight game with at least 20 points, which matches the longest such streak of his career.
The game really came down to two things – bench production and 3-point shooting. Johnson made a trio of 3-pointers and had more points (19) than all of the Warriors reserves combined (13). The Pistons had 42 points off the bench, with Johnson and Smith combining for 30 of them.
And while the Dubs are generally an elite 3-point shooting team, they lead the league at 38.5 percent from distance, Saturday wasn’t the best evidence of it. They made just six of their 26 3-point attempts, while the Pistons knocked down 12 treys. Curry missed his first five 3-pointers before making one five minutes into the third quarter. Curry wound up with three 3-pointers and had a 20-point second half.
The Dubs have now lost each of their last six road games, and they’ll look to get back on track on Monday when their road trip continues on Monday.
More notable moments from Saturday's game:
- The Warriors are now 7-3 (.700) versus Eastern Conference teams this season … Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Warriors are an NBA-best 108-22 (.831) versus the Eastern Conference./li>
- With the win, Detroit joins Boston, Indiana, and Milwaukee as the only Eastern Conference teams to defeat the Warriors three times dating back to the beginning of the 2014-15 season./li>
- After starting the year 4-1 on the road, the Warriors have dropped six-consecutive road contests … The last time the Warriors lost six consecutive road contests was April 6-21, 2012./li>
- The Warriors used their eighth different starting lineup this season (Curry, Thompson, Durant, Jerebko and Jones).
Stephen Curry returned to the Warriors lineup after missing the previous 11 games with a left groin strain, scoring 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field./li> - Kevin Durant recorded a game-high 28 points … Over the last four games, Durant is averaging 43.0 points per game.
Klay Thompson scored 21 points tonight and has now scored 20-or-more points in a career-best tying eight straight games … It’s the fourth time in his career that he’s accomplished the feat./li> - It marks the 33rd time Curry, Durant and Thompson have scored 20-plus points in the same game … Golden State is 30-3 in those contests including 1-1 this season./li>
- Damian Jones exited the game with a left shoulder strain.