Detroit +4? -125
After missing seven games, Andrew Bogut (shoulder) is active tonight and is expected to start vs. Detroit
--The first meeting between the teams, a 113-95 Warriors win Nov. 12 at Oakland, came with the first open sign of Pistons discontent when then-coach Maurice Cheeks started the second half with $54 million free agent Smith on the bench. It was the seventh game of the season. Smith had two points and two rebounds in 19 minutes. Curry had 25 points and eight assists for the Warriors.
--Draymond Green, the second-year forward from Michigan State, started and had a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors in Saturday's win over Brooklyn. Lee missed the game with a stomach illness. Green has started five of the last seven games because of injuries at center and power forward. He had the first two double-doubles of his career during that stretch, with an 11-and-11 game in a Feb. 10 rout of Philadelphia.
--The Warriors start their second long road swing through the Eastern Conference tonight, a six-game trip. They went 6-1 on a seven-game trip against the East in December and January.
--Homestand of 4-4 with one game left, 3 1/2 games out of eighth in the East, just two games removed from the eighth-worst record in the league and an odds-on chance to keep their first-round draft pick.
For now, they're squarely in that no-man's land where they could miss the playoffs and lose their first-round pick in a rich draft, which would be their ultimate disaster and cast the 2012 Ben Gordon trade in an entirely different light (a salary dump for which they owe Charlotte a top-eight-protected pick this year).
Oh, and the Pistons fired their head coach during this homestand, too.
Playoff hopes realistically are gone, with 16 of the final 25 games on the road after tonight. Eight of the road games are against the Western Conference.
According to ESPN's Hollinger playoff odds, the Pistons have a 12.8-percent chance of qualifying for postseason.
That doesn't mean the Pistons won't play important games in March and April, just that they may be important for far different reasons than they hoped.
After missing seven games, Andrew Bogut (shoulder) is active tonight and is expected to start vs. Detroit
--The first meeting between the teams, a 113-95 Warriors win Nov. 12 at Oakland, came with the first open sign of Pistons discontent when then-coach Maurice Cheeks started the second half with $54 million free agent Smith on the bench. It was the seventh game of the season. Smith had two points and two rebounds in 19 minutes. Curry had 25 points and eight assists for the Warriors.
--Draymond Green, the second-year forward from Michigan State, started and had a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors in Saturday's win over Brooklyn. Lee missed the game with a stomach illness. Green has started five of the last seven games because of injuries at center and power forward. He had the first two double-doubles of his career during that stretch, with an 11-and-11 game in a Feb. 10 rout of Philadelphia.
--The Warriors start their second long road swing through the Eastern Conference tonight, a six-game trip. They went 6-1 on a seven-game trip against the East in December and January.
--Homestand of 4-4 with one game left, 3 1/2 games out of eighth in the East, just two games removed from the eighth-worst record in the league and an odds-on chance to keep their first-round draft pick.
For now, they're squarely in that no-man's land where they could miss the playoffs and lose their first-round pick in a rich draft, which would be their ultimate disaster and cast the 2012 Ben Gordon trade in an entirely different light (a salary dump for which they owe Charlotte a top-eight-protected pick this year).
Oh, and the Pistons fired their head coach during this homestand, too.
Playoff hopes realistically are gone, with 16 of the final 25 games on the road after tonight. Eight of the road games are against the Western Conference.
According to ESPN's Hollinger playoff odds, the Pistons have a 12.8-percent chance of qualifying for postseason.
That doesn't mean the Pistons won't play important games in March and April, just that they may be important for far different reasons than they hoped.
opcorn2
