NBA: Klay Thompson (21 points) guides Warriors past Pistons

Klay Thompson had the best performance of his five-game-old season Tuesday night, hitting three 3-pointers among a game-high 21 points as the Golden State Warriors opened a seven-game homestand with a 102-86 romp over the Detroit Pistons in San Francisco.

Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 19 points and Stephen Curry had 18. Thompson, still early in his comeback from ACL and Achilles injuries, played 22 minutes.

Rodney McGruder, playing for the first time since his trade to the Denver Nuggets was voided, paced the Pistons with a season-high 19 points off the bench.Coming off a 1-3 trip, the Warriors wasted little time getting back in the swing of things, getting nine points from Wiggins, six from Curry and five from Thompson in a game-opening, 26-13 flurry.

The advantage mushroomed to 66-38 by halftime and maxed out at 73-39 in the fourth minute of the third quarter before the Warriors coasted to their third consecutive home win.

Thompson, who had shot just 35.7 percent both overall and on 3-point attempts while averaging 13.8 points in his first four games, went 6-for-13 from the field and 3-for-8 from long distance.

He also made all six of his free throws, making him 11-for-11 at the line for the season.

Curry, who also found time for a game-high eight assists and three steals, added four 3-pointers and Wiggins had three for the Warriors, who outscored the Pistons 42-27 from beyond the arc.

Golden State rookie Jonathan Kuminga responded to his third start of the season with his first double-double, grabbing a season-best 10 rebounds to complement 12 points.

Kevon Looney also had 10 rebounds for the Warriors, who outrebounded the guests 54-50.

McGruder, who had been inactive for Detroit's previous three games, scored 11 more points than he'd recorded in any game this season. He sank four of the Pistons' nine 3-pointers.

Hamidou Diallo added 16 points, Isaiah Stewart 14, Trey Lyles 13 and Saddiq Bey 10 for the Pistons, who had won three of their previous five games.

Rookie Cade Cunningham shot just 3-for-10 and was limited to eight points for Detroit, which was opening a four-game Western swing that continues Wednesday night in Sacramento.

Diallo and Stewart both logged double-doubles, Diallo with a game-high 13 rebounds and Stewart with 11 boards.

-reuters

Luka Doncic triple-double lifts Mavs past Pistons in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Luka Doncic’s Spanish was flawless. His game was pretty good, too.

Doncic scored 41 points and posted his eighth triple-double of the season, Seth Curry added a season-high 30 points off the bench and the Dallas Mavericks topped the Detroit Pistons 122-111 on Thursday night in the opener of the NBA Mexico Games.


Doncic finished with 12 rebounds and 11 assists for the Mavericks, who at 17-7 are off to their best 24-game start since posting the same mark at this point of the 2014-15 season.

“He picked us apart,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said.

Curry scored 18 points in the second quarter alone for Dallas. The Mavericks trailed by seven late in the first half, then went on a 14-0 run before intermission and eventually led by as many as 24.

Curry became the first Dallas reserve to score 30 off the bench since Jason Terry had 34 against San Antonio on Jan. 29, 2012.

“Even when Detroit was playing zone, our guys were making an effort to drive-and-kick, drive-and-kick and find Seth ultimately for the shot,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “Real happy for him. He did everything. He drove it. He shot it. He made a couple good plays on the breaks. He made a couple good passes. He was a huge contributor tonight.”

Doncic’s eight triple-doubles already match his total from last season. Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points for the Mavericks, who outrebounded Detroit 52-34.

“I think we’re getting better and better every day,” Doncic said. “He’s going to get better. I’m going to get better. And with us two, the team is going to get way better.”

Andre Drummond led the Pistons with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Derrick Rose scored 19 points and Markieff Morris added 16 for Detroit, which got 12 from Tony Snell and 10 apiece from Christian Wood and Blake Griffin.

“Back to the drawing board,” Casey said. “Dallas is a great team. Rick’s done a heck of a job with that team. But we missed a lot of shots that we normally make. And then defensively, I thought we missed a lot of rotations.”


It was the 29th game in Mexico since 1992, the most of any country other than the U.S. or Canada in that span and came on a night where the NBA announced that Capitanes — a Mexico City-based team in that country’s top pro league — will be joining the G League starting next season.

“Playing out here was incredible,” Drummond said. “The atmosphere was outstanding.”

Doncic addressed the Mexico City crowd pregame — to their delight — in flawless Spanish, before turning the microphone over to Griffin. “Hola, Mexico,” was the extent of Griffin’s Spanish offering, as he grinned and a very amused Doncic looked on standing a few feet away.

The night didn’t get much easier for Griffin from there: He shot just 3 for 16, and 1 for 10 from 3-point range.

Doncic, meanwhile, went on to post his second 40-point triple-double of the season. He’s the first player in NBA history to have multiple 40-point triple-doubles before turning 21; he doesn’t celebrate that birthday until Feb. 28.

TIP-INS
Mavericks: It was the third time Dallas played a regular-season game outside of the U.S. or Canada — the Mavs played Houston in 1997-98 and Phoenix in 2016-17, both in Mexico City. … NBA Commissioner Adam Silver misspoke before the game at a news conference, introducing deputy commissioner Mark Tatum as “Mark Cuban” — the Mavs’ owner.

Pistons: Before Thursday, Detroit’s only other regular-season game outside of the U.S. or Canada was Jan. 17, 2013 — a loss to New York in London. … This was only Detroit’s second chance at a three-game winning streak so far this season. The Pistons had won two straight before losing to Milwaukee on Dec. 4, and had won two straight again before Thursday.

AVOCADO WOES
Drummond was a game-time decision because the Pistons said he had an allergic reaction to an avocado. He had swelling around his eyes Wednesday, but played as planned.

SECOND GAME
San Antonio plays Phoenix in Mexico City on Saturday. It’ll count as a home game for the Suns. This is the first time that the NBA has brought four teams to the Mexico games.

UP NEXT
Mavericks: Host Miami on Saturday.

Pistons: Visit Houston on Saturday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pistons’ lack of flexibility evident in deadline moves

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.— Ed Stefanski can maintain a sense of humor about the challenges facing the Detroit Pistons.

“I wouldn’t be here if things were rosy, is the way I look at it,” said Stefanski, a senior executive with the Pistons. “And I tell that in our meetings when people want to say, oh, you know, this and that. I said, ‘You guys wouldn’t be here if things were good.'”


Stefanski arrived as part of a front office overhaul last offseason, and this week was his first trade deadline with Detroit. The Pistons acquired guard Svi Mykhailiuk from the Lakers and center Thon Maker from the Bucks, giving up Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson in the process. The moves netted Detroit a couple young players but did little to change the overall outlook for the franchise.

The Pistons have a lot of money tied up in Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson, and although Griffin has remained healthy and played like a star this season, Detroit was 24-29 heading into Friday night’s matchup with New York — and would not make the playoffs if the season ended now.

“To get the players that you would want, that extra star or so, we don’t have that flexibility. It’s not happening,” Stefanski said Friday. “But we’re starting it. These are, say, smaller moves on the sides, but we, again, don’t have that flexibility.”

The Pistons did make a huge deal last year around this time, acquiring Griffin. They gave up a first-round draft pick in that trade and still didn’t make the playoffs, and that was the end of Stan Van Gundy’s tenure as coach and president of basketball operations.

Dwane Casey took over as coach, but the results haven’t been much different. Stefanski stressed the need for players on team-friendly contracts. Bullock, on the other hand, has emerged as a solid outside shooter and figures to become more expensive soon.

Detroit is still close enough to a postseason spot that the team isn’t throwing in the towel.

“We’re going for the playoffs, and that’s (owner) Tom Gores from the top,” Stefanski said. “We’re a competitive organization. I preach to these guys, when you put that Pistons uniform on, you’re representing people. You’re representing a lot of guys from the past. We’re going to try to win every game. Now, we did sell with Reggie, that’s obvious, but we feel we got a good return, but we’re also looking hard at the buyout market to be a buyer.”

So the Pistons will move forward with the same basic core, hoping for significant development from their young players. They didn’t have a first-round pick last year. Johnson, who was just traded, was a first-rounder in 2015. Luke Kennard, a first rounder in 2017, is still with Detroit. He’s shown some ability but has not become a star by any means.

Maker was the 10th pick in the 2016 draft.

“You’ve got length and size with Thon,” Casey said. “Svi is a big-time 3-point shooter — again, opportunity … he did it more so in the G League than he did with the Lakers.”

One way Detroit could try to improve its flexibility is by moving one of its biggest contracts, but it’s not always easy to find a deal that works. Right now, a full rebuild doesn’t appear imminent. The Pistons are moving forward with Griffin, Drummond and Jackson, and they didn’t do anything drastic to give those three more help.

“We’re not going at warp speed, because we don’t have the ability, flexibility-wise, to go at warp speed,” Stefanski said. “Would I want to go at warp speed? Yes. But we don’t have it. We have to make good decisions. We can’t bring in players that we’re not sure of on pretty expensive contracts.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Pachulia signing 1-year deal with Pistons

Zaza Pachulia is signing a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.

A person familiar with the terms confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on Sunday. The person confirmed it on terms of anonymity because the Pistons had not announced the signing.

Pachulia was with the Golden State Warriors in each of the last two seasons, winning championships both years and starting 127 of a possible 164 regular-season games. Detroit becomes the sixth team for the 34-year-old center, a career 6.9-point-per-game scorer. The Pistons waived center Eric Moreland earlier Sunday, presumably the precursor to the Pachulia signing.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Portland wins 12th straight with win over Detroit

PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard says Portland’s current streak is more about the Blazers than their opponents.

Lillard had 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and the Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 100-87 on Saturday night for their 12th straight victory.

“During this entire run a lot of the things we’ve done have been about us,” Lillard said. “Us communicating, being on the string defensively, locking into the scouting report and knowing what hurt us the last time we played these teams, and also trusting each other on offense, and making other teams have to work to stop us instead of being easy to guard.”

CJ McCollum added 16 points for the Blazers, who have the longest current winning streak in the league. It’s the longest streak for the franchise since it won 13 in a row in December 2007.

Portland (43-26) also earned its season-best ninth straight home win — a timely streak as it tries to hold on to third place in the Western Conference standings.

While the Blazers are soaring, the Pistons are struggling.

Andre Drummond had 18 points and 22 rebounds in Detroit’s 12th consecutive road loss. Blake Griffin had 15 points.

The Pistons (30-39) have dropped eight of 10 overall, and currently sit in ninth place in the East.

Coach Stan Van Gundy was fuming after the game about the officiating.

“They held and grabbed on every play and they got away with fouls all over the place. We got absolutely screwed all night,” Van Gundy said. “Luke (Kennard) makes a back cut to the basket on an out-of-bounds play, gets knocked down, they end up with two points on the other end. Blake has two straight drives in the fourth that he gets hammered on. He gets screwed twice.”

While Van Gundy said he didn’t want to take anything away from the Blazers, he said the officiating made their defense look good. He called the game embarrassing for the league.

“I’ve been here for four years and many more years before that and I’ve never come in after a game, never, never come in after a game and talked like this. That was embarrassing,” he said.

The Pistons trailed by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but they closed to 84-74 on Stanley Johnson’s dunk with 8:18 left. Evan Turner responded with a jumper for the Blazers.

After Kennard was whistled for a technical foul, Lillard made a foul shot and McCollum converted a layup to make it 89-74 with 6:19 remaining.

Kennard was a game-time decision with a tight hamstring, but he finished with 12 points.

Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic got two quick fouls within the first four minutes of the game, so he was replaced by Meyers Leonard. Portland went up 20-9 early.

The Blazers led 60-45 at the break. Lillard led all scorers with 12 points.

After extending the lead in the third quarter, Lillard went to the bench to start the fourth and it looked as if he might be done for the night. But he returned when Detroit got within 10 points.

“We’re grown men,” Johnson said. “We grab and hold just like they grab and hold. At the end of the day it is what it is. You can’t go back and change stuff. You can’t do nothing about it. If that’s the way they want to officiate the game, we gotta deal with it and try to maneuver the best we can.”

TIP-INS

Pistons: It was the third of a six-game road trip. … Forward/Center Eric Moreland played at Oregon State. … Reggie Jackson, who has missed 35 games with a right ankle sprain, participated in a 3-on-3 optional practice earlier this week.

Trail Blazers: Terry Stotts tied Nate McMillan for third-most victories as a Blazers coach. Stotts is 266-213. … The Blazers had lost five straight to the Pistons. … All five of Portland’s starters scored in double figures.

UP NEXT

Pistons: Visit the Sacramento Kings on Monday.

Trail Blazers: Visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

source: sports.inquirer.net

NBA: James returns for Cavs blowout over Pistons

LeBron James returned with 21 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers got back to winning ways with a 104-81 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday.

James, who was rested for the Cavs defeat to the the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, added three rebounds and three assists as the NBA Champions improved to 10-2.

Kyrie Irving topscored with 25 points and claimed 11 assists while Kevin Love chipped in with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The defeat continues Detroit’s poor record on the road this season. The Pistons have now gone 1-7 on their travels, shooting just 31 percent on Friday.

The Cavs meanwhile maintained their strong start to the season, extending their NBA record run of games in which they have made at least 10 three-pointers to 12.

For Detroit, Jon Leuer scored 15 points, while Andre Drummond added eight with 10 rebounds.

The Pistons, however, were never in the game after trailing 56-39 at half-time with the Cavs opening up a 33-point lead at one stage in the fourth quarter.

J.R. Smith, meanwhile, returned from an ankle injury after a week’s layoff to score nine points via a trio of three-pointers.

The 31-year-old’s tally saw him ease past Dirk Nowitzki’s mark of 1,703 three-pointers into 15th on the all-time list.

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Smith was benefiting from being less of a target for opposition teams than James, Irving and Love.

“He’s always been a great shooter,” Lue said.

“Here with this team, with Kevin and Kyrie and LeBron and the way they demand so much attention, now he’s getting open, easy shots and he’s always been a knockdown shooter. I think now he’s getting easier shots and shots in rhythm and he knows where his shot’s gonna come from.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Joel Anthony stays with Pistons for $5M

Free agent center Joel Anthony is staying with the Detroit Pistons, reaching agreement with the team on a reported two-year, $5 million contract.

The second year of the deal is not guaranteed, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday. The contract won't become official until the NBA moratorium period on free agency signings ends Thursday.

The 6-foot-9 Anthony came to the Pistons in an October trade with the Boston Celtics for Will Bynum. In 49 games for Detroit last season, Anthony averaged 1.8 points and 1.9 rebounds and shot 58.1 percent from the field. - Reuters