Golden State Warriors Fall To Short-Handed Memphis Grizzlies In Draymond’s First Game Back

The short-handed Memphis Grizzlies knocked off the Golden State Warriors last night 116-107. Considering the Grizzlies were without several key players including Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane and Steven Adams, the fact that the Dubs lost is straight up embarrassing. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the Warrior’s defense that was the problem, as they only gave up 116 points which is relatively good given the fact that they’ve allowed 129 points or more in their last four games. The real struggle came on offense. Draymond Green made his return to action coming off the bench and actually played pretty well, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the struggles the rest of the team had. After Kuminga’s big game off the bench, Kerr rolled the same starting five out with Curry, Klay, Wiggins, Saric and Looney. 

Klay started the game with a nice dime to Looney for two before knocking down a mid range jumper. A few minutes later Vince Williams nailed two threes to give the Grizzlies an early 13-9 lead. Saric responded with a three of his own before Curry got to the rack for two and Draymond buried a three. After a Kuminga bucket capping off a 10-0 burst, Memphis was forced to call a timeout down 19-13. Golden State maintained the lead the rest of the quarter, as Draymond hit another jumper and Wiggins got one to fall from beyond the arc. With one quarter in the books, the Dubs led 29-23. After a strong first quarter, the Warriors looked to extend the lead in the second and opened up with a nice floater from Podz. South Carolina product GG Jackson answered with a trey and two free throws to cut the lead to three, 31-28. With nine minutes remaining, Klay cashed in on a three but Memphis drained three consecutive long balls to take a 39-36 lead. Curry took over the next few minutes getting three smooth buckets to help the Dubs get back on top. But to end the quarter the Grizzlies continued their three point clinic and buried shot after shot from beyond the arc, knifing into the lead and making it a 56-54 game at half in favor of Golden State.

The third period was tight throughout as neither team could gain any serious traction. Looney and Wiggins got easy dunks at the rim, but Memphis continued to stroke it from downtown, as Kennard and Jaren Jackson poured in two more treys to knot things up at 60. The lead changed several times as Vince Williams nailed a three only for Klay and Curry to get back to back buckets. Halfway through, the Dubs looked as if they might pull away as they took a six point lead on a Looney basket, but Ziaire Williams hit a long ball and Vince Williams flushed one home to trim the deficit back to one, 74-73. Then with under two minutes to play, the Warriors got the lead back up to seven thanks to a Saric three and two good looks at the rim. But to close out the quarter, Jacob Gilyard and David Roddy connected on shots from distance and with 12 minutes to play, Golden State hung onto a one point lead, 86-85. Two minutes into the fourth, Memphis took a 92-91 lead on a pair of Luke Kennard free throws, and never looked back. GG Jackson knocked down two threes and Kennard followed suit with one of his own, extending the lead to ten. The Warrior’s still had plenty of time, but couldn’t buy a bucket and had some costly turnovers down the stretch. They never cut the lead to anything under seven, and the final buzzer sounded with a final score of 116-107. 

Curry led the Dubs with 26 points on an 11-20 clip, also dropping 8 dimes. Kuminga had another stellar game off the bench recording 20 points and 11 boards. Wiggins and Saric went for 16 and 13 while Klay struggled shooting 4-10 from the field, only amassing 9 points. In Draymond’s first game back, he came off the bench and played good basketball all around, racking up 7 boards, 7 assists and 7 points. TJD didn’t see the court as much as he has in recent games, and when he did he was fairly irrelevant as went scoreless in ten minutes. For the Grizzlies, Vince Williams and GG Jackson combined for 8 threes and 15 free throws, pacing the team with 24 and 23. Jaren Jackson Jr. put up 18 of his own, but shot an abysmal 4-20 from the field including 3-14 from deep. Finally, Roddy put up 12 while Kennard, Gilyard and Aldama recorded 11 apiece.

This game came down to two factors, the Warrior’s turnover problems and the Grizzlies’ three point shooting. The Dubs gave the ball up an astonishing 19 times, while the Grizzlies poured in 20 shots from distance. The former is the most glaring, and any time you turn the ball over 19 times, your chance of winning is significantly hampered. Aside from these two factors, the Warrior’s played a solid game. They shot 49% from the field and 32% from three point range, while absolutely dominating in the paint, outscoring Memphis 62-20. Kuminga continues to play well and quite honestly is the second best player on the team right now. With a few weeks until the trade deadline, get ready for some roster shakeup, as this team just doesn’t have what it takes to make a deep playoff run.

Golden State has now gone 3-8 in their last 11, and moves to 18-22 with the most recent L. They will have to get the bad taste out of their mouth, as they travel to Utah to take on the Jazz tomorrow night. The Jazz roster isn’t crazy on paper, but they have quietly been playing some quality basketball and hold the 9th seed in the West, sitting at 22-20. Markkanen will be tough to stop, but if the Warriors can get it going on offense, I think this is a very winnable game. I predict Golden State finishes their road trip 2-2 with a win tomorrow night, 122-108.

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