Recap: Detroit vs. Golden State
Sports Network | December 13, 2009
Auburn Hills, MI (Sports Network) - Richard Hamilton scored 18 points in his return to the lineup and reached a milestone as Detroit topped Golden State, 104-95, giving the Pistons their fifth straight victory.
Hamilton, who missed the last 21 games with a right ankle sprain, shot 6-of-15 from the field. He was on the court for 36 1/2 minutes in his second game of the season and first since the season opener, October 28 at Memphis. He became the seventh Piston to score 10,000 points, increasing his total to 10,017 in a Detroit uniform.
"Early in the shoot around I already told them that I will not be able to go. It was not feeling right," said Hamilton. "I went home and I talked to my wife and one thing that she told me, she was like pretty much stop feeling sorry for yourself, go out there and play, go out there and try, you never know how you going to feel until you go out there and try to play."
Rodney Stuckey had 29 points and seven assists for the Pistons, who have also won five in a row over the Warriors. Charlie Villanueva contributed 24 points and nine rebounds in a reserve role, while Jason Maxiell posted 10 points and eight boards as a starter.
Monta Ellis scored 29 for the Warriors, who lost their second straight and sixth in seven games. Corey Maggette ended with 23 points, while Stephen Curry scored 19 in defeat.
"We had a lapse in the second quarter, we were up 13 and then we let them get back into the ball game," said Curry. "We played well enough tonight I thought to win the game except for that five minute stretch and that was the game right there."
The Warriors went 5-for-19 from the field in the pivotal third quarter, while the Pistons went 8-of-16 with Hamilton logging seven of his points in the period. That helped Detroit turn a 55-49 halftime deficit into a 71-67 lead going into the fourth.
Included in that third quarter was an 8-0 spurt to end the period for the hosts. Villanueva's two free throws capped the flurry, which was started by a Hamilton jumper.
Ellis' layup had the Warriors within 85-83 with 5:08 remaining, but Hamilton countered with a three-ball and then came up with a steal and hit a jumper for a seven-point cushion. Stuckey provided a nine-point lead with a pull-up jumper with under four minutes left.
The Warriors never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
Golden State held a 30-24 lead going into the second and went ahead by as many as 13 prior to halftime. Curry's three-pointer moved the lead to 37-24, but the Pistons went on a spurt and took a 47-45 edge following a three-ball from Chucky Atkins with 2:48 remaining. The Warriors scored the final six of the half.
Detroit's Ben Gordon sat out with a sprained left ankle...Golden State is 1-3 on a five-game road trip, which finishes at Philadelphia on Monday...Detroit starts a three-game road swing Tuesday in Houston...CJ Watson finished with 13 for Golden State...Detroit shot 54.2 percent from the field.
