Field Level Media
Jan 6, 2024
Stephen Curry brushed aside a poor long-range shooting night to bury two key 3-pointers in the final 1:05 Friday night and the Golden State Warriors held off a determined effort by the visiting Detroit Pistons for a 113-109 victory in San Francisco.
Attempting to rebound from blowing an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead in a 130-127 home loss to the Denver Nuggets the night before, the Warriors led 95-84 following a Dario Saric 3-pointer with 7:13 remaining before the Pistons rallied.
With Cade Cunningham producing 11 of his game-high 30 points, the Pistons used a 19-7 burst to go up 103-102 on a Bojan Bogdanovic 3-pointer with 1:41 to go.
But then Curry took over. After giving Golden State the lead for good on a pair of free throws with 1:32 remaining, the NBA all-time 3-point king, having missed eight of his first 10 attempts from beyond the arc, nailed 28-footers 19 seconds apart, the latter giving the hosts a 110-103 cushion with just 46.1 seconds left.
Curry later capped a team-high 26-point night with one free throw and Brandin Podziemski added a pair, assuring Golden State just a second win in five consecutive home games.
Klay Thompson backed Curry with 19 points, going 3-for-9 on 3-pointers. The Warriors shot 16-for-38 on threes, outscoring the Pistons, who went 13-for-44, by a difference-making nine points.
Saric chipped in with 17 points, while Jonathan Kuminga, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Podziemski added 11 apiece for the Warriors, who completed a two-game, season-series sweep of the Pistons.
Jackson-Davis, who made all five of his shots, also found time for a team-high nine rebounds, while fellow rookie reserve Podziemski had a game-high-tying five assists.
Cunningham's 30 points came despite 1-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. He made 12 of his 15 shots from inside the arc.
Jalen Duran compiled a 13-point, game-high 12-rebound double-double for the Pistons, who lost their third straight after last Saturday's win over Toronto that snapped a 28-game skid.
Kevin Knox II had 18 points, Alec Burks 13, and Bogdanovic and Jaden Ivey 12 apiece for Detroit, while Killian Hayes chipped in with a game-high-tying five assists and two steals on a scoreless night.
Making his first San Francisco appearance since being traded to Detroit last February, James Wiseman contributed four points, three rebounds and two blocks to the Pistons' cause in 15 minutes off the bench.
--Field Level Media