DETROIT – One side may have been mired in a six-game road trip, and the home team was playing the second leg of a back-to-back, but both the Warriors and host Pistons played with an abundance of animosity early on at Little Caesars Arena on Friday night.
The officials whistled both coaches and a player for a technical foul before halftime in a game filled with grabbing and uncalled fouls.
But after a contentious start, the game morphed into just another ho-hum Warriors loss, this time by a score of 115-101. The team’s seventh loss in eight games also saw one of its top players leave early with a worrying injury.
The Warriors lost Kristaps Porzingis with a back injury, coming up injured after fronting Paul Reed in the post in the second quarter.
Porzingis immediately began to reach for his back, was subbed out and walked back to the locker room with team trainer drew Yoder. The team diagnosed him with back soreness, and Porzingis did not return.
Porzingis has played in only seven of the team’s 18 games since arriving in a trade from Atlanta.
De’Anthony Melton scored 14 and Brandin Podziemski scored 15. Jalen Duren put up 23 points for the Pistons, the East’s top seed that forced 27 Warriors turnovers.
After the Warriors have spent the past few months wrangling with a depleted roster against healthier squads, Friday night saw them compete with a team on more even ground.
While Steph Curry (runner’s knee) and a couple other Warriors starters in Al Horford (calf) and Moses Moody (wrist) were out, the Pistons had injury woes of their own.
MVP candidate Cade Cunningham will miss several weeks after he was diagnosed with a collapsed lung earlier this week, and power forward Isaiah Stewart was out with a calf strain. All-Star center Jalen Duren played through a sore right ankle.
The Warriors led 26-21 in the first quarter, it being very apparent that the Pistons missed Cunningham’s presence at the point by committing seven early turnovers.
The Warriors led by as many as nine in the second, but the Pistons stormed back and took a 57-50 advantage into the halftime locker room. Detroit pulled away in the second half, facing minimal resistance at the rim and scored 74 points in the paint.
With Porzingis joining Horford and Quinten Post as unavailable, the Warriors’ front line consisted of Draymond Green, 10-day contract Omer Yurtseven and 2-way contract Malevy Leons. That was until Leons also left the game with an apparent right wrist injury late in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors, still the 10th seed at 33-37, will finish their six-game road trip on Saturday in Atlanta. It will be Golden State’s first game against former Warrior Jonathan Kuminga.
**Moody’s wrist**
The Warriors could get one of their starters back soon. Moody has missed the past nine games with a right wrist injury, but has begun shooting again.
“I’ve been progressing over these last few days, making big strides,” Moody said at shootaround, noting that pain tolerance will be a factor in coming back.
Moody said that he has still been able to do the same conditioning he usually would.
He is shooting 40.2% from 3-point territory this season in 59 games.
**Draymond Green’s homecoming**
In his annual game in his home state of Michigan, Saginaw native Draymond Green put up no points, five rebounds and six assists against the Pistons.
That kind of statline was not out of the ordinary for Green, aside from the scoreless aspect. In 21 games against Detroit, he has averaged 6.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.
In front of a hometown crowd, Green left it all on the floor in more ways than one. He left a mess courtside after he dove into the fans early in the game, spilling a customer’s beer.
Although not to be outdone, Gary Payton II left candy strewn about when he crashed into the scorer’s table a few minutes later.
**Curry’s jersey retired**
Steph Curry spent the team’s travel day between Boston and Detroit to make a quick trip back to his hometown of Charlotte.
The Hornets retired his father, Dell’s, No. 30 to the rafters on Thursday. Along with Seth Curry, his younger brother and fellow Warrior, Steph Curry was there to congratulate his father in person.
“A special night for the Curry family,” Curry posted on X. “The originator is in the rafters forever. Congratulations, Dad.”
Both Currys remained in North Carolina on Friday, and will rejoin the Warriors in Atlanta on Saturday.