Golden State Warriors' Jermaine O'Neal: 'Detroit Pistons victory important'

Golden State Warriors forward Jermaine O'Neal believes that his side's victory over the Detroit Pistons away from home in the NBA on Monday was important for the players' mentality.

Mark Jackson's team got the better of their hosts 104-96 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

"These are the ones I prefer for us to win now," NBA.com quotes the 35-year-old as saying. "It teaches us how to win when it's not going well for us, when we're not making all the threes and the flashy plays.

"We don't have a whole lot of playoff experience on this roster, so they don't necessarily know what it takes to win it all. Games like this are teaching us how to win it all.

"In the first half of the season, we'd play the really good teams well and beat them and then lose to teams we should beat. We can't be a championship-calibre team if we're going to do those things."

The Warriors are currently sixth in the Western Conference.