Curry held to season-low 22 in Warriors’ win over Pistons
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, left, lays up a shot past Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors won 109-95. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
OAKLAND, Calif. — On a night Stephen Curry struggled with his shot, Golden State barely missed a beat while extending its unbeaten streak.
With Curry suffering through his worst offensive night of the season, the Warriors got a big boost from their bench to pick up the slack, much like they did last season when they captured their first NBA title in 40 years.
Andre Iguodala and Leandro Barbosa combined for 23 points off the bench, and Golden State used a big run early in the fourth quarter to pull away and beat the Detroit Pistons 109-95 on Monday night to remain the league’s only undefeated team.
“Our second unit is, we feel, the best in the NBA,” Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said. “We’ve got veterans on that unit that know how to win. When they give us that type of performance it just makes us that much more dangerous.”
Curry, who finished with 22 points, missed five of his first seven shots and finished 7 of 18 from the floor while being held under 30 points for only the third time this season. The reigning MVP also had five assists and five rebounds.
It hardly mattered, even though Detroit kept things close.
The Warriors led by as much as 17 but had trouble shaking the pesky Pistons. Detroit, which rallied from 13 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Portland a night earlier, cut the gap to 80-76 heading into the final 12 minutes.
With Walton resting most of his starters to begin the fourth, Golden State pulled away with a 10-0 run.
Harrison Barnes made a 3-pointer from the corner, Barbosa scored five straight points and Shaun Livingston added a layup following a turnover to put the Warriors up 92-78.
Curry made a 3-pointer then added a free throw after Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy was called for a technical foul to extend the lead to 102-82.
“I definitely think we’ve got the best bench in the league,” said Draymond Green, who had six points, nine assists and 10 rebounds. “That’s a real weapon for us. It was last year and it is again this year.”
Klay Thompson added 24 points, Barnes had 12, Iguodala scored 13 and Barbosa had 10, including five straight to help the Warriors pull away in the fourth quarter.
Golden State’s 8-0 start is the second-best in franchise history. The Philadelphia Warriors won their first nine games in 1960-61.
Reggie Jackson, coming off a career-high 40-point night in Portland, scored 20 points for Detroit (5-2). Andre Drummond added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
“You can’t turn the ball over 20 times and give up 35 fast-break points,” Van Gundy said. “That was the difference in the game. We made bad decisions passing the ball and turned it over too much.”
