In loss vs. Detroit, Warriors’ bench score highest total since 2009

Behind Alec Burks and Omari Spellman, the Golden State Warriors bench unit registered their highest-scoring night since 2009.

Against the Detroit Pistons, the Golden State Warriors were down two key contributors heading into the game, late in the third quarter, it didn’t get any easier when Draymond Green was ejected.

Green was thrown out of the game by referee, Tre Maddox with a little under five minutes into the third period, subtracting another player from the Warriors already thin lineup.

With Green hitting the showers early, and both D’Angelo Russell (shoulder) and Kevon Looney (abdomen) ruled out, someone needed to handle a bulk of the minutes against Detroit.

It wasn’t just one player, but the entire Golden State Warriors bench unit carried the load against the Pistons. The understaffed Warriors couldn’t overcome the pairing of Derrick Rose and Andre Drummond. Yet, their bench ended up turning in a valiant effort.

Breakout journeyman, Alec Burks came off the bench to lead the Warriors in scoring with 27 on 5-of-13 shooting from the field. Burks was a technician getting to the charity stripe, knocking down 14-of-14 attempts from the free-throw line against Detroit. The Colorado product added seven board and five assists, potentially boosting his trade value.

Behind Burks was big-man Omari Spellman, who provided the Warriors with a spark off the bench against the Pistons. The former Villanova Wildcat scored 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, adding a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Late in the fourth quarter against Detroit, Spellman threw down a powerful one-handed jam to put an exclamation point on his impressive night off the bench.

After the game, Steve Kerr praised the bench’s effort to reporters, saying the Warriors needed them after their slow start.

“The bench came in a did a great job, and they had to because we got off to a very slow start — second game in a row that we’ve really came out of the gate slow and had to play from behind for pretty much the whole night — it’s a tough way to play, so the bench did a really good job for us.”

Burks, Spellman and the rest of the bench combined for 77 total points, the high for bench points this season and the most since November 9, 2009, against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With the Warriors’ slim roster struggling near the halfway point of the season, Kerr may need to rely on his bench at a similar rate until Looney and Russell return to the lineup healthy.