Friday night's Warriors game was not a whole lot prettier than Thursday night's. On the whole, it was a far worse performance against the worst team in the NBA.
But the 113-109 win got the Warriors back on the right track with some clutch performances from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, along with heavy minutes for young players who had clamored for them. Oh, and at 18-19, they've jumped the Los Angeles Lakers for the 10th seed.
Here are three takeaways:
Kuminga plays after Kerr drama
The Warriors have to lead the league in melodrama. After being benched from the middle of the third quarter on last night, Shams Charania reported that Jonathan Kuminga had "lost faith" in Steve Kerr.
Kerr addressed the report before the game, indicating that he understood Kuminga's frustration, but was upset with how the information came out.
"We talked," Kerr said. "Obviously those things are better discussed behind the scenes. Any time something like that goes public, then it creates a distraction. I talked to our whole team about it. It's like, if you've got an issue, I'm here. I am the most accessible coach in the league probably. My door's always open and I have players all the time come talk to me and I encourage it.
It's a difficult situation because every player naturally has his own goals, his own dreams. Everybody wants to flourish, everybody wants to blossom. And we have a lot of guys who are capable of playing and I have very difficult decisions to make each and every night. JK is a young player, he's growing, he's getting better. That's why he's been in the starting lineup and he will continue to grow and this is all part of his growth."
Despite all that, Kuminga, sporting a buzzed head, was probably the Warriors' best player in the first half. It was his 15th-straight game with double-digit points. But he was silent in the second half, and seemed to take his foot off the gas, despite playing a game-high 35 minutes.
While his impact waned in the 11-point, 6-rebound performance (with a team-high 4 turnovers) his energy was necessary. He led Golden State with at team-high +18.
Hard-to-watch basketball before Steph and Klay come up clutch
Part of the reason Kuminga's absence over the final 18 minutes Thursday night was so glaring is how old the Warriors looked. Their veteran legs were tired, and there was every indication that would show up Friday night.
That was exactly the case, to put it lightly.
Both Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson - especially the latter - had ugly starts. Curry didn't have a point in the first quarter, and Thompson looked lost. he was picking up his dribble at inopportune times and shooting out of rhythm. His defense was lead-footed.
Thompson had 4 points in the first half, in which he was 2-of-9 and 0-of-3 from deep with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and a couple turnovers.
On the whole, Golden State was plagued by turnovers (19 of them, fourth-most on the year) and poor shooting from deep. Curry was 1-for-9 from 3-point range late in the third quarter.
Both Curry and Thompson played poorly early, but they forced their way onto the score sheet in that second half. Thompson finished with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half (in which he was 4-of-9, 3-of-6 from deep). He also got to the line four times, hitting all of them.
And that other guy, Curry? He looked as gassed as he did Thursday night, but came through this time. He finished with 26 points (8-of-9 on free throws) on 7-of-19 shooting and 3-of-12 from deep with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, a block and 3 turnovers. He had 14 of the final 16 points.
That rough performance didn't much matter because he came through in the clutch. With just over a minute left, and a one-point lead, he hit a vintage, step-back 3-pointer to put the Warriors up by four with 1:04 remaining.
On the very next possession, Thompson blocked a driving Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Warriors' response? Curry with a dagger of a three.
The two vets who crumbled late in the fourth quarter last night, did the inverse Friday night. They fought their way back into the game with weary legs and came through clutch. That duo had 24 of the Warriors' 34 fourth-quarter points.
Chris Paul hurts left hand, Cory Joseph gets minutes before Moses Moody
With 5:39 remaining in the third quarter, Chris Paul headed down the tunnel to the Warriors locker room while holding his left hand.
The possession before, the Pistons had taken a fast break the other way. Paul's hand got caught in Jaden Ivey's jersey. He immediately stopped, grimaced, and quickly walked down the tunnel in pain. He was ruled out at the start of the fourth quarter.
In his stead, Steve Kerr tapped Cory Joseph as the team's backup point guard. It is abundantly clear that the team does not see Brandin Podziemski as a primary ball handler. If they did, it would be a likely opportunity to inject Moses Moody in to the game...
That came, finally, with 9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, with a five-point Warriors lead. He subbed in for Podziemski.
All night, Warriors fans chanted Moody's name, and clearly. His entrance was met with a rapturous applause.
Ironically, it came in direct contrast to Kerr's comment about sitting Kuminga Thursday, and not wanting to inject him after a long rest. Kerr has never been afraid to inject players after long absences, which is why that explanation was so head-scratching.
Both Moody and Kuminga were in the game from that stretch in the fourth quarter, at which point the Warriors stretched a five-point lead to a game-high 11 points on the back of a Dario Saric 3-pointer. His 17 points were third on the team. He remains a steady, positive player.
Moody's appearance comes after Jason Dumas reported that his camp has been frustrated with his disappearing role.
With Anthony Slater saying that he expects the Warriors to make a trade, it's fairly easy to see a path for Moody to get dealt by the February 8 deadline.
On Friday, both he and Kuminga found themselves in the game during a crucial stretch in the fourth quarter.
Moody looked uncertain as a shooter, but his size, athleticism and effort both defensively and as a rebounder were helpful. But after he and Kuminga had back-to-back misses that led to the Pistons closing it to a one-point lead, Kerr pulled Moody.
Podziemski returned for Moody, in another excellent game (11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal) for him. His fellow rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis was also impressive in an 11-point (5-of-5), 9-rebound, one block performance.
Kerr injecting Moody after the chants for him, and playing Kuminga a team-high 35 minutes, felt like him saying, "See? Is this really what you want?"
Golden State came out with the win, but it wasn't exactly of the feel-good variety. The Curry and Thompson fourth quarter efforts made it feel better, but this was not pretty.
... Oh, as a footnote, James Wiseman returned against the Warriors. He had one outstanding dunk but was otherwise a non-factor in a 4-point, 3-rebound performance in 15 minutes.