Golden State Warriors 99 Final
Recap | Box Score
91 Detroit Pistons
David Lee, PF 34 MIN | 10-12 FG | 4-5 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 24 PTS | +10

Lee was a beast in this one as evidenced by his stat line. The Florida product attacked every Pistons big man that defended him on the block and looked like an All-Star in doing so. Also, he contested a few shots, rotated well on defense but could have done a better job on the boards.

Dorell Wright, SF 36 MIN | 3-13 FG | 4-4 FT | 11 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS | +5

Dorell made it difficult for Tayshaun Prince to get to his sweet spots on the court and thus made it difficult for the Pistons forward to score despite his good shooting night. Also, Wright was active on the boards and utilized his pump fake to repeatedly get open for midrange shots or to find a teammate with a better scoring opportunity.

Andris Biedrins, C 21 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-2 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -2

Andris put a body on Monroe and made it hard for the Pistons center to score on the block. He also committed a few hard fouls and converted a few attempts at the rim after receiving some terrific passes from his teammates. As usual though, the issue for the Latvian center was foul trouble.

Monta Ellis, SG 36 MIN | 7-14 FG | 8-11 FT | 2 REB | 7 AST | 22 PTS | +12

Monta spent a lot of time on the bench early in the game due to foul trouble, but came on late in the game by getting some steals and also attacking the paint and drawing fouls. When the Pistons decided to trap him hard, he attacked the second defender to draw fouls and he also routinely got to the baseline to get the defense to converge and then kicked the ball out to his teammates for great looks.

Charles Jenkins, G 29 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 5 AST | 6 PTS | +6

Jenkins played good defense, made excellent decisions with the ball and also made open shots when the ball swung his way. Jenkins earned himself some playing time by bringing energy and playing in concert with his teammates.

Three Things We Saw

  1. The Warriors turned up their defense in the third quarter and contested shots hard and got their hands on a lot of loose balls to force turnovers and get out in transition.
  2. The Pistons are a good interior passing team and they managed to create some high percentage shots at the basket especially in the first half, but their season long inability to convert at the rim cost them some points. It’s still worth noting that Lee, Udoh and Biedrins’ contested a lot of the shots of Pistons players, which resulted in misses.
  3. Not entirely relevant but worth mentioning still: the Golden State Warriors do not have a game scheduled for next Sunday and thus will be able to cheer the San Francisco 49ers who will host the NFC Championship game on January 22nd.