Detroit Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) shoots against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second half at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Wed Jan 4, 2023 (AP News photo)
Warriors Lose to Pistons in Final Second of the Game 122-119
By Barbara Mason
Going for their sixth win in a row, the Golden State Warriors (20-19) took on the young upstart Detroit Pistons (11-30) Wednesday night at Chase Center in San Francisco. Andrew Wiggins was still unable to play tonight as was Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman. The Warriors had a five game winning streak snapped as the Pistons stayed the course against Golden State coming away with a 122-119 victory.
The Warriors got off to a very disconcerting start. Luckily for Golden State they got on track after the first few minutes of the first quarter. The Pistons were shooting a shocking 67%, crazy for a team that is 28th on offense in the league. After the first twelve minutes of play Detroit led 34-26.
Leading after the first quarter gave the Pistons a lot of confidence that they took into the second quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic was leading the Pistons in points with 17. The Pistons finished the first quarter on an 8-0 run and were looking to put an end to the Warriors win streak at Chase.
The Warriors took a brief one point lead in the second quarter 39-38 at 9:17 but it was short-lived. At the half the Pistons continued to hold the lead 60-56.
Jordan Poole had 13 points in the half but it was the bench that came out hot in this game. They accounted for 30 points in the half between Anthony Lamb, Ty Jerome and Moses Moody. They had kept Golden State in this game. The Warriors continued to struggle with turnovers committing nine and they desperately needed to tighten up they’re defense in the second half.
The rhythm and flow that we are used to seeing from Golden State was absent and one wondered if the double overtime Monday night had taken a toll.
The Warriors took another brief lead in the third quarter but couldn’t get on top of Detroit. The Pistons led after three 91-88.
With 7:33 left in the fourth quarter the Warriors had come from ten down to take the lead 99-98. The Warriors could not sink a three to save their life and were 11 of 33. They were climbing uphill the entire evening. With 5:06 left Klay Thompson hit his first three of the night followed by a second three.
The Warriors had 3:45 to turn this game around. The Pistons had 15 shots from downtown to their credit and with 1:24 left in the game had a 117-112. The hoped for sixth win in a row was on shaky ground. It got even worse when Draymond Green was ejected with his second technical.
With 04.2 left on the clock the Warriors had the ball trailing 119-116. Thompson hit from downtown and we had a tie game at 119 with one second left in regulation. Detroit would end the Warriors perfect home stand with a shot from downtown winning it 122-119.
Thompson had the high with 30 followed by Jordan Poole with 24. The bench had a great game with a combined 48 points.
The Detroit Pistons played a great game, a high caliber game. The high for the Pistons was Bojan Bogdanovic with 29.
Saturday night the Warriors will take on the Magic playing their seventh home game in a row. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30.
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