What we learned as Hield, Santos spark Warriors’ win over Pistons originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
BOX SCORE
Collectively as a whole, the Warriors heard the voices of their leadership council and started a four-game road trip the right way, outlasting the Detroit Pistons 107-104 at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night.
Did they play perfectly? Far from it. But their soul and spirit were back, which should be a big confidence boost for a team challenged by its most important voices.
The Warriors outrebounded the Pistons 49-40, had nine steals, seven blocks and 21 second-chance points – 15 more than the home team. All of that helped lead to the Warriors handing the Pistons their first loss of 2025.
Steph Curry finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals, but went 5 of 21 from the field and 2 of 14 behind the 3-point line. His teammates didn’t let him down this time.
Gui Santos played the most important minutes of his young career and tied his career-high of 13 points while constantly hustling to lay his body on the line. Buddy Hield had a team-high 19 points, Dennis Schröder gave Golden State 13 points and six assists, and Trayce Jackson-Davis had a strong 14-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors improving to 19-18 on the season.
The Gui Santos Game
Steve Kerr knew at some point this season the Warriors’ developmental 14th player on their roster would be needed. That time turned out to be Thursday in Detroit on the 37th game of the season.
Santos, 22, had played in 12 games this season for a total of 63 minutes coming into the day. All those minutes, however, were in the second half and mostly in garbage time of the fourth quarter.
With the depleted Warriors extremely short-handed on the first night of a back-to-back, Kerr turned to Santos with a little under four minutes left in the first quarter, and his impact immediately was felt.
In his limited minutes, Santos had attempted nine 3-pointers this season and was successful just once. However, a mere 22 seconds into entering the game, Santos splashed a triple. The Warriors took 10 three in the…
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