Preview: Warriors at Pistons
by Mike
Golden State
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Detroit
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The Palace at Auburn Hills
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| 2010-11 Meetings | ||
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| November 7, 2010 • Recap | ||
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Warriors | 97 |
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Pistons | 102 |
| November 15, 2010 • Recap | ||
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Pistons | 97 |
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Warriors | 101 |
The Warriors kick off their 5-game road trip with a (west coast) matinee in Detroit. The Pistons are struggling, so this is a game the Warriors need to pick up to get their road trip off to a good start. Speaking of the road trip, after looking over the opponents the opportunity is definitely there to put together a winning trip:
- Tonight: Detroit (1-5)
- Tomorrow: Toronto (1-5)
- Wednesday: New York (3-2)
- Thursday: Chicago (2-3)
- Saturday: Milwaukee (2-5)
Chicago is probably the scariest team on the list, and even they have been beatable so far. It would be great to see the Warriors pick up the first two games, which would take the pressure off for the New York and Chicago games as they know they’ll have Milwaukee at the end to get to 3-2 on the trip. But seeing as tomorrow they’ll be on a back to back, tonight is the game the really need to have.
What to watch for tonight:
- Rebounding. The Warriors are currently 5th in rebounding differential (+2.8), while the Pistons are 27th (-3.3). Second chance points were the difference in Friday’s game against Utah, and the opportunity is certainly there tonight if the Warriors can take advantage.
- “Defense Travels Well.” Can DTW become the GTL of the Warriors season? After holding an opponent to 78 points (and winning with only 85!), the team certainly seems to be buying into a more defense-oriented mindset. The players are saying all the right things, too. On their first game after a cross country flight, when the shots might be a little flat, can they rely on their defense to produce another win?
- Finishing Inside. While Lee and Biedrins were monsters on the glass on Friday, neither was able to consistently finish at the rim. Ethan Sherwood Strauss has an interesting theory that the fact that they are both lefties is causing an adjustment period as they both crash the same side of the rim, though Biedrins is fairly insistent that it’s just a matter of luck (the BAPIP argument, as it were). Either way, if they could start making their inside chances the second chance points could go through the roof.
Tags: andris biedrins, david lee, pistons, warriors
