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 The plan: While they were focused on limiting Detroit Pistons star
Andre Drummond to reasonable numbers, Warriors guards Stephen Curry
and Klay Thompson would provide a bulk of the team's scoring.
All four Warriors did their part, with Curry and Thompson combining
for 46 points while Drummond was held to 14 points and 15 rebounds
in Golden State's eighth consecutive win, 109-95 over the Pistons.
"You have to give up stats for yourself," Bogut said of sharing the
assignment on Drummond, who torched the Portland Trail Blazers for
29 points and 27 rebounds in a Detroit win Sunday night. "Just make
sure he doesn't get the rebounds."
Drummond did get 15, but they were nearly offset by Bogut's nine and
Ezeli's two. The duo also found time for 16 points (eight apiece),
outscoring the Pistons standout.
"Tonight was a learning experience for us," Drummond said. "We went
against the defending champs, and they know what it takes to get a
win. Today was a day where we see where we are at and see what we
have to work on to get better, (and) maybe take a few things out of
their book as well."
The marquee matchup of Curry, the NBA's leading scorer, and
Drummond, the league's top rebounder, never really materialized.
Curry had 22 points, but he hit only seven of 18 shots while hounded
by Pistons defensive ace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in falling 12
points shy of his season average.
The key stretch in the game came with both Curry and Drummond on the
bench to start the fourth quarter.
Backup guard Leandro Barbosa and small forward Harrison Barnes
combined for 12 points in an 18-6 run to start the period, helping
the Warriors wear down a Pistons team that played the night before.
The Warriors, the NBA's last remaining unbeaten team for the second
year in a row, moved within one of their franchise record for
consecutive season-opening wins, set in 1960-61 while the club was
playing in Philadelphia.
Golden State won its eight games by a total of 142 points, an
average of 17.8.
The Warriors led just 80-76 before reserve forward Andre Iguodala
got Golden State's fourth-quarter flurry going with a dunk.
Barnes followed with a 3-pointer before Barbosa contributed a
driving hoop and a 3-pointer of his own to cap a 12-2 burst that
opened a 92-78 lead.
Drummond returned to convert a spike tip, but Barbosa hit again from
outside, Thompson dropped in a 15-footer, and Barnes converted a
fastbreak, opening a 98-82 advantage from which the Pistons never
recovered.
"Our second unit (along with Barnes), in that beginning of the
fourth, was huge for us," Walton said. "They got a nice big lead
there, and we were able to give our starters a couple of minutes on
the bench. Barbosa was a huge part of that."
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Thompson led the Warriors with 24 points, hitting 10 of 17 shots,
including four of seven from 3-point range. Iguodala finished with
13 points, and Barnes had 12.
Bogut played 19 minutes in his first game since sustaining a
concussion in the Warriors' opener against the New Orleans Pelicans
on Oct. 27.
"He was great. Absolutely great," Walton said of Bogut. "He was huge
in defending that monster they have over there. It's great having
him back."
Point guard Reggie Jackson and backup forward Stanley Johnson scored
20 points apiece for the Pistons, who lost their ninth straight to
Golden State.
Detroit (5-2) absorbed its first road loss in four outings despite
shooting 47.1 percent. The Pistons were hurt by 20 turnovers.
"You can't turn the ball over 20 times and give up 35 fastbreak
points. To me, that was the difference in the game," Pistons coach
Stan Van Gundy said. "We made bad decisions passing the ball. We
didn't play well enough against a very good team."
The Pistons had won at Phoenix and Portland to open six-game Western
swing.
Caldwell-Pope and small forward Marcus Morris added 15 points apiece
for the Pistons.
NOTES: The last team with a larger total margin of victory than the
Warriors' 142 in an 8-0 start was the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls, who won
their games by 147 points. ... C Andre Drummond became the first
Piston ever to earn Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards in
consecutive weeks when he was honored for the week ending Sunday. He
averaged 22.0 points and 24.3 rebounds in the Pistons' three games.
... Asked before the game to compare Drummond with the greatest
rebounders of all time, veteran Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said,
"Dre's as good as any, if not the best that I've been around." ...
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, out following back surgery, attended the
club's shootaround Monday morning and competed in a free
throw-shooting contest with PG Stephen Curry. ... Interim coach Luke
Walton provided an update on Kerr, saying, "His sense of humor seems
like it's coming back, and it seems like he's doing better more of
the time, but you can still tell that he's struggling."
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