Opponent Scouting: Golden State Warriors. (31-12)
Tonight at 10:00pm EST the Pistons are on the road to face the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are on one day of rest after losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Pistons are coming off of a loss against the Suns.
The Them:
The Warriors have begun to slip a bit recently, but they are still back among the elite of the NBA. They come into the game with the 11th best offensive rating and the best defense in the NBA. Draymond Green is out and Steph Curry is probable.
On the note of Curry, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is awesome. The best shooter ever and his effort off of the ball is hugely problematic for defenses. Klay Thompson is back from injury and has looked ok but definitely rusty since he came back. Andrew Wiggins has slipped into a nice role here as a switch-up isolation scorer who is an athletic defender, Jordan Poole is a fearless chucker.
Otto Porter is a classic 3 and D wing player, Gary Payton is a terrorizing defender, their bigs without Draymond are serviceable if not notable.
They are a bit banged up right now, but they are still a problem, they were without basically all their stars last time they played Detroit but Poole and Wiggins tore them up badly. So even if Steph gets pulled there is no reason to feel comfortable.
Matchups to watch:
Hayes vs. Steph: Hayes defense has been a bright spot for Detroit this season, and he has a chance to face the NBA’s toughest assignment, which will be fun to see how he holds up.
Cade vs. Comin back with fire: Looked to be on his way to a big game before getting ejected in comical fashion, would be great to see him bounce back with real fire tonight.
Saddiq Bey vs. Keeping the roll: Pretty self explanatory, Saddiq has been playing better lately, if he can keep running off big games it would be a huge positive in a rough season.
Klay Thompson vs. Get-right: Klay is going to have a huge “I’m back bitches” game at some point, the Pistons seem primed to be that team, lets not be that team.
Flashbacks: Would be nice if Poole and Wiggins didn’t torch the Pistons
The Pistons vs. dodging the noise: Lots of trade talk around lots of players, got to keep your head clear.
So in conclusion…
Run for the hills if:
Klay gets hot
Steph gets hot
The Pistons are down by 30 at some point
Wink knowingly at your friends if:
Steph is bothered by Killian’s length
Cade is dunking and pointing all over the place
The Warriors look hurt and uninterested
Opportunities for me to look stupid:
Steph gets his numbers but is noticably bothered by Killian’s efforts
Cade scores 30
Beef Stew has a big game
Pistons 118 - Warriors 115
What do you think? Can they contain Steph? Can they bounce back from the big loss?