One of the most notable Michigan natives in the NBA handed the Detroit Pistons back-to-back losses for the first time in a month.
Draymond Green made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 35 seconds left that proved the difference in a 115-110 Golden State Warriors win over the Pistons on Saturday night in San Francisco.
Green, the Saginaw native and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, averages less than one 3-pointer made per game and had made just one shot on Saturday entering the final minute of play. But with his team down by one, he took a pass and launched a surprise shot that went in to put his team ahead by two.
A Cade Cunningham turnover and subsequent Green free throw make on the following possession stretched that lead to three, and the Pistons were unable to come back from there.
That sequence ended a closely fought game that featured 20 ties, 18 lead changes and came down to the wire.
The Pistons took five-point leads twice in the second half, including with eight minutes left on a five-point run by Tobias Harris, who played through an apparent second-half wrist injury.
But the Warriors battled back each time to set up a thrilling finish.
Malik Beasley gave the Pistons a lead on a jumper with 4:20 left before Steph Curry and Beasley traded 3-pointers and the lead. The Pistons forced back-to-back turnovers to take a three-point lead after that, before Curry tied the game on a three-point play with 2:45 left.
Jimmy Butler hit a go-ahead jumper with 1:22 left, and former Warrior Dennis Schroder responded by hitting one of two free throws to pull his team within one.
After a Golden State miss on the next possession, Cuningham took the ball coast-to-coach for a go-ahead fast basket with 49 seconds left.
That would prove Detroit’s last lead, though, as Green hit the critical shot and Golden State hung on.
Cunningham recorded 31 points to lead the Pistons but also had nine turnovers. Beasley had 17 points, while Harris had 15.
Curry led Golden State with 32, followed by Butler with 26.
The tightly contested game featured two of the hottest teams in the league, each having won 10 of their last 12 entering Saturday night.
The Pistons have now lost consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 3-5 after falling to the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Detroit wraps up its four-game road trip with a Sunday game at Portland.