They say defense wins championships and maybe it does.
But offense won the Golden State Warriors their game on Friday night against the Pistons in Detroit. Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson all hit big shots late for Golden State and it was the difference in the 119-113 victory.
Whether it was Curry’s drive and 3-pointer with under four minutes left, Durant’s second-chance 3-pointer with under two minutes left or Thompson’s jumper and 3-pointer with under a minute left, the Warriors just put too much pressure on Detroit to keep scoring. And the Pistons just couldn’t do it.
Link to “Warriors WrapUp” from Golden State’s 119-113 win over Detroit on 95.7-FM The Game.
Among the topics discussed on the postgame show:
–The Warriors do a great job of lulling many teams into playing an uptempo game early, and kind of deceiving them into thinking they can have success that way. Usually you don’t “lull” a team into transition basketball, but the Warriors have a way of doing it, particularly when they’re on the road.
The Pistons are one of the most offensively challenged teams in the league, but they used their energy and emotion early to hang with the Warriors and their up-and-down style in the first half, and all game, quite frankly. But as the game moved along it became apparent that this was way more of a Warriors’ type of game than a Pistons’ type of game.
And this one ended with the Warriors scoring on five of their last six possessions to win the game.
–Durant was absolutely fantastic on the offensive end, finishing with 32 points on 13-for-18 from the floor. If there was any fault in Durant’s game on Friday it’s that he probably could have been even more aggressive. At times, Curry struggled to get shots off against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Thompson went through a dry spell in the middle quarters. It was during those times that you wonder whether Durant should try to become more of a volume shooter.
—David West played a nice game in Brooklyn on Thursday and followed that up with another one on Friday. West had six points but his big contribution in 14 minutes was his five assists. West kept the ball hopping at the offensive end and found cutter after cutter when the Warriors needed to keep scoring.
–Reggie Jackson doesn’t seem like the most fun guy to play with. Has the ball in his hands a lot, know what I mean? Lot of dribbling … get me?
–Boy, it’s got to get demoralizing to keep seeing your center miss foul shots. I know Andre Drummond is “up to” 47 percent from the line this year — although that’s going to take a hit with his 3-for-9 on Friday — but man does he exasperate you with all those points left there.
Matt Steinmetz 
I thought McGee changed the game which allowed the big 3 to do their thing. McGee has improved with every game and the Warriors are finding ways to use him efficiently. West also has stepped up his game where he’s a reliable center who can block shots and score. The bench is definitely coming around where this year’s bench may now be better than last years. Ian Clark is consistently good and should shoot more than he does. He’s till hasn’t figured out when to be aggressive with his scoring but I like him a lot.
Finally, Green need to stop shooting when it’s obvious he can’t find the ocean with his shot, But he still my MVP because he does everything else so well.
On a sour note, Varejao should never be allowed on the court except when there’s one minute left and the Warriors are ahead by 30. He’s a disgrace to basketball. He looks like a lost puppy out there.
Prediction:Curry goes for 30+ Sunday against the Cavs.
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