Pistons vs. Warriors final score: Pistons lose more than game as KCP suffers injury

The Pistons and Warriors were locked in a fierce battle. Stars were scoring in a multitude of ways. There were 21 lead changes (the most against the Warriors all season). The score was 60-58.

Then, hopefully, Pistons fans got some shut eye because the second half was much different.

Golden State started taking care of the ball, started locking in on defense and what once was competitive became a laugher. The Warriors outscored Detroit 41-19 in the third quarter and that was all she wrote.

The Pistons fell 127-107, but they not only lost a game but also their best player this season as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope suffered a shoulder injury after four minutes of the first quarter. X-rays were negative, and there is no indication of how much time KCP will miss.

When asked about the injury at his mid-game interview, Stan Van Gundy deadpanned, “Well he's our best 3-point shooter, our best energy defender, our best energy guy, we won't miss a lot.”

Indeed.

Speaking of 3-point shooting, the Pistons ... couldn’t do that. Detroit shot just 6-of-28. The Warriors, meanwhile were 15-of-29 on plenty of open looks. The Warriors ball movement was amazing (of course). They had 39 assists compared to just 20 for the Pistons.

It was an all-around effort for the Warriors. Draymond Green had just two points, but dished 12 assists. Steph Curry struggled with his 3-point shot but had five steals. Zaza Pachulia did everything that doesn’t show up in a box score, including a number of expertly placed screens to open up shooters. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson just sort of casually waltzed their way into a combined 19-of-30 shooting effort for 48 points.

The Pistons got solid contributions from all of their starters and Stanley Johnson who subbed in for the injured Caldwell-Pope. Andre Drummond had a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds). Tobias Harris chipped in 18 and Marcus Morris got sizzling after a slow start to finally break out of his slump. He finished with 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Boban Marjanovic even tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds in just 14 minutes.

it just wasn’t nearly enough. You don’t beat the best team in the NBA unless everything goes right, and the Pistons didn’t pass, shoot or defend well enough for everything to go right.

Darrun Hilliard rejoined the rotation and promptly had perhaps the worst game of any Piston since the Josh Smith era. Hilliard finished the night 2-of-12. The only thing more numerous than his missed shots were his number of poor decisions on offense and defense.

Now, Detroit has the difficult task of regrouping without KCP and face an excellent Utah Jazz team in less than 24 hours.