Buddy Hield and Gui Santos secure victory over Pistons – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
News

Buddy Hield and Gui Santos secure victory over Pistons – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

BOX score

As a whole, the Warriors heard the voices of their leadership council and started a four-game road trip the right way, topping the Detroit Pistons 107-104 on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Did they play perfectly? Far from it. But their soul and spirit were back, which should be a huge confidence boost for a team challenged by its most important voices.

The Warriors outscored the Pistons 49-40 in rebounding, had nine steals, seven blocks and 21 second-chance points – 15 more than the home team. All of this contributed to the Warriors handing the Pistons their first loss of 2025.

Steph Curry finished the game with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals, but went 5 of 21 from the field and 2 of 14 from behind the 3-point line. This time his teammates didn’t let him down.

Gui Santos played the most important minutes of his young career, scoring a career-high 13 points while constantly fighting to put 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 double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Here are three takeaways on how the Warriors improved to 19-18 this season.

The Gui Santos game

Steve Kerr knew that the Warriors’ viable 14th player would be needed on their roster at some point this season. It was Thursday in Detroit, the 37th game of the season.

The 22-year-old Santos had played a total of 63 minutes in 12 games this season. However, all of those minutes came in the second half and mostly in the garbage time of the fourth quarter.

With the depleted Warriors extremely shorthanded on the first night of a meeting, Kerr turned to Santos with just under four minutes left in the first quarter, and his impact was immediate.

In his limited minutes this season, Santos had attempted nine three-pointers and was successful only once. But just 22 seconds into the game, Santos scored a three-pointer. The Warriors made 10 three-pointers in the first quarter and Santos’ one attempt was the only one that failed. At halftime, Santos had already played a season-best 15 minutes and 28 seconds and was 3 of 4 from 3-point range with nine points, two rebounds and steals.

“I was working,” Santos told NBC Sports Bay Area at halftime. “I work hard. This is the first game where I’m part of the rotation, so I’m just trying to play as hard as I can on the court and help my teammates get free throws. If I have to crash the rim, I will. I just try to do whatever I can to help my teammates do better.”

Kerr wasn’t afraid to use Santos in the most important moments. He played a career-best 25 minutes and posted a plus-7 total in the win.

Strength in numbers

There’s a reason Kerr had to call Santos’ number so early. The Warriors were once again without Jonathan Kuminga, Gary Payton II and Brandin Podziemski. Moses Moody joined the group due to ongoing knee problems and Andrew Wiggins flew back to the Bay Area for personal reasons.

That left Kerr with 10 players available. Nine played in the first quarter and all 10 saw action in the first half. Seven of the 10 had a positive plus/minus at halftime, with several playing key roles in giving the Warriors a 10-point lead.

Like Santos, Lindy Waters III also made three three-pointers in the first half. Kyle Anderson filled the stat sheet and all ten players scored at least one point before halftime. Kevon Looney ended up grabbing eight big rebounds and the Warriors’ bench outscored the Pistons’ reserves 37-21.

Everyone deserves credit for this gut check of a win on the first night of back-to-back games.

Buddy ball

Having already lost to Kuminga and Wiggins, the Warriors desperately needed a scorer. Curry shooting the ball on the night made this even more important. Hield stepped to the plate and hit a home run in the Motor City.

With the Warriors on the wrong end of two terrible losses in a row, Hield was a minus-32 and shot 3 of 14 from three games. His performance on Thursday evening must have been a sigh of relief for him and many others.

Hield started the Warriors’ scoring by being aggressive, driving to the basket and completing a layup with his left hand. Those were his only two points in the first quarter. But he scored six goals in the second quarter and eight in the third, making both attempts from deep.

His 16 points in three quarters were the most he had scored in a full game in a month, when he had 27 points on December 8th. Hield added another three with seven and a minute left in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 12-point lead. He is now averaging 15.3 points in eight starts this season, good for a three-point percentage of 43.7.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *