The Sports Xchange
Dec 8, 2017
DETROIT -- Kevin Durant piled up a season-high 36 points to go with 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks and Golden State won its sixth straight by downing the slumping Detroit Pistons 102-98 on Friday at Little Caesars Arena.
Durant came up a few assists shy of a second consecutive triple-double after a 35-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance at Charlotte on Wednesday.
The Warriors became the 11th team in league history to sweep a six-game road trip. The last team to achieve that feat was the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2008-09 season.
Golden State was playing its second straight game with two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who will miss at least two weeks with a right ankle sprain.
Warriors guard Klay Thompson supplied 21 points for the Warriors. Draymond Green, who missed their win at Charlotte with a sore shoulder, filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, 13 assists and a career high-tying six blocks despite scoring just two points. David West added 11 points off the bench and Shaun Livingston had 10.
The Warriors recorded a season-best 15 blocks.
Avery Bradley's 25 points led the Pistons (14-11), who have lost five straight. Reggie Jackson contributed 16 points. Tobias Harris tossed in 11 points while Anthony Tolliver and Boban Marjanovic chipped in 10 apiece off the bench.
Jackson scored 14 first-half points as Detroit led 50-46 at halftime.
Durant scored 10 points in the first five-plus minutes of the second half to put Golden State on top. Thompson, who missed his first six 3-point attempts, finally made one from long range to give the Warriors a 66-60 lead. Golden State finished the quarter with a 10-2 spurt and carried a 77-67 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Pistons cut their deficit to 84-82 on a Marjanovic layup. Durant made three free throws after a questionable foul call against Tolliver, bumping Golden State's lead up to five.
Durant scored inside with 3:35 left to make it 91-84. A Thompson 3-pointer pushed the lead to nine.
The Pistons hung around and when Bradley drilled a 3-pointer after a Warriors turnover, they were within two at 100-98 with 22.7 seconds left.
Livingston missed two free throws, but Jackson then misfired on an off-balance shot in traffic.
Thompson hit two free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining to clinch it.
NOTES: Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy can't muster any sympathy for the Warriors playing without PG Stephen Curry. "They won a championship before Kevin Durant got there, so basically without Steph they have a world championship-caliber team with Kevin Durant instead of Stephen Curry," he said. ... Durant passed Bernard King for 45th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Durant has now scored 19,684 points. ... Golden State C Zaza Pachulia missed the game with left shoulder soreness. Reserve G Patrick McCaw was unavailable due to a concussion. ... Pistons PF Tobias Harris has scored in double digits every game this season. It's the longest streak from the start of a season by a Detroit player since Richard Hamilton had 55 consecutive double-digit games in 2006-07.