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Technically speaking, the opening quarter of Tuesday's game in Oakland was considered basketball -- but it sure looked like a curb-stomping to me.
The Warriors outscored the Pistons by 19 in the opening frame, building such a cushion that Golden State's entire starting lineup watched the fourth quarter from the bench as the Pistons scrambled late in a futile attempt to make the final score, 113-95, look respectable.
It was a weird game. It deserves a weird recap. With apologies to Bill Connelly, let's turn to the numbers:
60
Golden State's shooting percentage as a team for the night. I mean, seriously? That's insane. Unfortunately, it's also not that surprising: through seven games, the Pistons are now allowing a league-high 49.3 field-goal percentage. Detroit's size in their front court has yet to translate into stingy defense.
54 and 52
Golden State and Detroit's points in the paint, respectively.
37.6
The Pistons' shooting percentage when you take Andre Drummond's 8-for-10 night out of the equation. It's not completely fair to cherry-pick stats like that, but it's indicative of Detroit's offensive struggles considering the Pistons don't actually run plays for young Dre, leaving him to fend for scraps off misses.
35
The number of points that Golden State scored in the first quarter, more than doubling up the Pistons' 16.
29
The Warriors' biggest lead for the night.
25
Steph Curry's scoring total -- on just 10 shots. He killed the Pistons from long distance (2-4 from 3-point land), he killed them with a nifty twirling layup in the paint, he killed them with his midrange game. Hell, he helped his teammates kill the Pistons, as well, finishing with eight assists.
21
The number of consecutive road games the Pistons have lost to Western Conference teams. It sounds bad ... but it's actually worse: the Pistons have won just one road game in their last 45 out west.
18:51
The number of minutes that Josh Smith played. After the massacre in the first quarter, Smith was glued to the bench from the second quarter until 5:25 remaining in the third. It was a surprisingly bold (but probably necessary) move by Mo Cheeks.
16
Andre Drummond's points to go with 14 rebounds, respectively, both game-high marks. What's even more remarkable is that he did this on just 10 shots in fewer than 29 minutes, and eight of his rebounds were on the offensive end.
15
Greg Monroe's shots taken and points scored. Moose had his moments when he flashed amazing footwork in the paint, but by and large this was a rather ho-hum performance, especially from the standards he's raised this season.
14
The number of different five-man combinations Mo Cheeks used against the Warriors over the course of 48 minutes. Cheeks has said time and again that anyone is available to play in any game, and I'm finally a believer. I don't think Cheeks has a real "rotation" -- he just has 13 guys in uniform that he randomly calls on from game to game.
12:43
Tony Mitchell's playing time. He didn't do a whole heck of a lot -- he finished with three points, three rebounds and an assist -- it was great to see him on the court. Also, I don't think I fully appreciated how much of a wide body Mitchell is -- he set a couple of brutal screens.
11
Andre Iguodala's game-high assist total. He made a significant impact without dominating the ball (he took six shots and scored eight points, finishing +26), prompting a lot of DBB readers to wonder in the GameThread whether the Pistons signed the wrong free agent last summer.
10
The number of points that Gigi Datome scored. He shot 4-of-6 from the field -- including the first two 3-pointers of his career -- in 17:25 off the bench. He also blocked a shot and hustled down an offensive board for good measure. Even Datome's misses look pretty, but it's worth pointing out that he also did a good job swinging the ball around and making a quick move with the ball into the paint. In other words, he's a shooter, but he's not just a shooter.
9
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's point total in 23:45 off the bench. His shot still isn't consistent -- he hit just 4-of-11 from the field -- but that will come. Plus, he's such a fluid athlete and a plus defender that it's getting harder to justify keeping him out of the starting lineup, let alone the freaking rotation.
7
Rodney Stuckey's point total -- on nine shots, no less. I suppose Stuckey is a candidate for the starting lineup, as well, but KCP has a much higher ceiling as a shooter.
5:40
The number of minutes that Chauncey Billups played. He was on the court when the Warriors made their initial run, and he never re-entered. Perhaps that's a function of Billups being 37 years old and playing on the wrong end of a back-to-back ... or perhaps it's Mo Cheeks starting to realize that Billups brings more to the locker room than he does the court. Billups is a team icon, but he's no longer a viable starter against most teams.
3
The number of steals that Andre Drummond tallied, as well as the number of shots that he blocked -- including this drool-worthy gem:
Zero, nada, zilch
Josh Smith's rebounding total on Tuesday. Hell, that's his rebounding and block total from Detroit's last six quarters combined. The guy has virtually disappeared.
-31
That's Brandon Jennings' plus/minus for the game, which is quite remarkable (in a bad way) when you consider how this game played out: The Pistons were outscored by 19 in the first quarter but lost by "only" 18. Jennings finished with 13 points on 14 shots, a mirror opposite of Curry's efficiency.
Despite all the talk after his signing that he wanted to become a distributor first and a scorer second, all too often he brings the ball up the court or curls off a pick without even looking for anything but his shot. Has he been goaded into trying to keep up with the likes of Damian Lillard and Curry the last two nights? It's possible.
That's all I got. What numbers did I miss?