National Basketball Association

Pistons 102, Warriors 97

Published Nov. 8, 2010 2:45 a.m. ET

foxsports

Rodney Stuckey wasn't thinking about redemption on Sunday night.

He might have gotten some anyway.

Stuckey finished a tumultuous five-day stretch with 21 points and nine assists to help the Detroit Pistons beat the Golden State Warriors 102-97.

Stuckey's problems started early in the second half of Wednesday's loss in Atlanta. After he ignored coach John Kuester, he was benched for the rest of the game.

He remained on the sidelines for Friday's win over Charlotte - Detroit's first victory of the season - but was back in the starting lineup against Golden State.

''That doesn't matter now - this was just another game,'' Stuckey said. ''The only thing on my mind tonight was to go out there and do my job.''

Kuester agreed that the situation belonged in the past.

''It's done,'' he said. ''We've moved on.''

The win gave the Pistons two in a row as they head into a four-game, six-day road trip.

''When you are going to the West Coast, it is always important to have a good performance in your last home game,'' Kuester said. ''I'm not sure this was beautiful basketball tonight, but we got another win, and two in a row feels good when we are heading west.''

Golden State, which hasn't lost in four home games, is now 0-2 on the road.

''We need to learn how to win these games on the road,'' said Golden State coach Keith Smart. ''It is tough to travel, but you have to be ready. I knew that team has a lot of pros who were going to get after us, and they did.''

Richard Hamilton, who came off the bench against Charlotte after missing two games with a foot injury, finished with 27 points after moving back into the starting lineup.

''I knew Rip had been struggling a little, but I wasn't worried,'' Stuckey said. ''Rip's a shooter, and he's going to go out there and shoot each and every game. We all knew he was going to get it going.''

Charlie Villanueva added 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Detroit, while Tayshaun Prince scored 14.

Monta Ellis led Golden State with 24 points and Dorell Wright had 19.

''We still need to establish our identity on the road,'' said David Lee. ''We haven't had much time to do that yet - this was only our second road game, and this was the first one that was close. We just had too many careless mistakes tonight. Fixing that will come with time.''

The Warriors started the second half with an 18-5 run and led 76-73 going into the fourth quarter.

Hamilton, though, scored seven points in the first two minutes of the period to give Detroit a five-point advantage.

Stuckey and Ben Gordon both hit 3-pointers as the shot clock expired, keeping the Pistons ahead, but an Ellis jumper pulled the Warriors within 96-95 with 2:33 left.

Villanueva answered with a basket, and Stephen Curry's tying 3-pointer rattled in and out with 13 seconds left.

''I was right behind him when that went up, and I thought it was in,'' Lee said. ''We'll take that shot from a great shooter any day of the week. I thought it was down.''

NOTES: The Warriors missed 10 of 12 3-pointers in the first half, but Wright hit three straight to start the third quarter. ... Jason Maxiell, who averaged 18 minutes in Detroit's first four games, did not play due to coach's decision for the third time in a row. ... Ellis has scored at least 20 points in five of Golden State's six games, including 46 in the season opener. ... The game drew just 12,813 fans, the smallest Pistons crowd in several years.