Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Detroit beat the
short-handed Golden State Warriors 108-91
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.
With an important game in the playoff race looming, the Detroit Pistons took care of business quickly Friday night.
Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Detroit beat the short-handed Golden State Warriors 108-91 for its fourth straight victory.
Jason Maxiell had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Tayshaun Prince also scored 16 for Detroit, which got points from all 12 players. Rodney Stuckey had 14 points and eight assists.
The Pistons are sixth in the Eastern Conference, but pulled within two games of fourth-place Atlanta in the race for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Detroit visits the Hawks on Saturday.
“It’s a good time for us to make a run now,” Hamilton said. “We pretty muck know we can’t get the one, two or three seed, we’re so far behind. But we can definitely shoot for the fourth.”
Jamal Crawford scored 25 points for Golden State, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Anthony Randolph added 17 in a career-high 47 minutes. His previous high was 28 minutes.
The Warriors had only eight players available because of injuries.
“We got into a gun fight and we had a knife,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said.
Detroit held a 63-40 lead at the half, as 10 of the 11 Pistons who played scored.
“Our starters came out in the first quarter and set the tone for what type of game we were going to play,” said Detroit coach Michael Curry.
The Pistons maintained a comfortable margin for the entire second half.
“It was tough. We had a couple of chances to get it to 15 and go from there,” Crawford said.
Detroit got a strong performance from its second unit, as backup point guard Will Bynum joined Maxiell in double figures with 13.
“We wanted the starters to get some rest and get our bench going because we go to Atlanta tomorrow,” Maxiell said.
The Pistons also have three games in four nights.
Stuckey led the way in the first half for the Pistons with 12 points and five assists. Detroit led 33-16 after the first quarter.
The Pistons pulled away with an 11-0 run late in the opening quarter. Maxiell’s turnaround jumper capped the run with 2:03 left in the first, giving Detroit a 31-14 lead.
Hamilton and Prince each had 10 points in the first quarter.
“We wanted to come out early against a team that didn’t have all its players,” Prince said. “If you let guys like that hang around, they get comfortable because they don’t have anything to lose.”
The Warriors shot only 5-of-23 in the opening quarter (22 percent). Detroit outscored Golden State 19-2 over a 7:12 stretch spanning the first and second periods.
“It was important for us to get a jump on them so we could get some rest,” Hamilton said.
Notes:
Former Detroit coach and Hall of Famer Chuck Daly was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He coached the Pistons to the 1989 and 1990 NBA championships. … Golden State leading rebounder Andris Biedrins didn’t play because of personal reasons. … The Warriors were without G Monta Ellis (left ankle stiffness) and F Brandon Wright (partial dislocation of his left shoulder). … Pistons G Allen Iverson remained out with a sore back.
