The Golden State Warriors (8-0) were at the FedEx Forum to face the Memphis Grizzlies (3-5), nine days after beating the same team by 50 points. The Grizzlies had been struggling, but were ready for the challenge of being the first team to beat the Warriors this season.
Mario Chalmers was acquired by Memphis by trade, was not available to play yet.
1st Quarter – Bogut Impacting On Both Ends
The Warriors missed their first five jumpers starting off sequences, but Festus Ezeli got his paws on two deflections of those misses.
One led to a baseline out-of-bounds catch-and-shoot from Stephen Curry to Draymond Green on the right baseline:
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The other landed in Harrison Barnes’ hands and Barnes converted a layup from the left side.
Golden State then created some separation as Curry got his first three to drop on a catch-and-shoot from the left side delivered by Barnes, then Barnes made a nice play from the left side, and-one:
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After that, Steph stole an entry pass that was too soft from Zach Randolph to Matt Barnes
On the break, Curry bounce-passed from the left to the right and Harrison finished with a soaring two-handed dunk:
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Memphis head coach Dave Joerger called timeout and Golden State had a 15-9 lead with 7:06 to go in the first.
About the only thing that wasn’t working for the Warriors were Green’s lob attempts to Ezeli (0-for-3) and a mindless turnover here or there (Curry and Andre Iguodala), but Andrew Bogut was swallowing up defensive rebounds and the Dubs were moving the ball, such as this five-pass sequence that ended with a Thompson trey:
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Bogut put his fingerprints on many a play, assisting Iguodala on a triple, then Curry went past a Bogut curl screen and found Barnes yet again, this time for three from the left corner, to make it 24-13 with 1:14 to play:
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But perhaps most impressive from the Aussie was a long jumper just inside the arc with 0.2 seconds remaining in the quarter, putting Golden State up, 26-15, after the first period.
Andrew Bogut, 22-footer? Why not? pic.twitter.com/ygNnyW1RBw
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 12, 2015
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Harrison led all scorers with 10 points, while Curry added 5 points, 3 assists, and Bogut grabbed 4 boards. Tony Allen, of all Grizzlies, had 7 early points to lead Memphis.
2nd Quarter – Turnovers Galore
Iguodala got hot and buried two threes to start the second quarter…
Who is this man, and what has he done with Andre Iguodala? The guy wearing No. 9 is 3-for-3 from 3. #Warriors pic.twitter.com/kaA7dcCL7b
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 12, 2015
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…as the Warriors built a 34-19 lead with 9:06 left in the half, but Joerger took a timeout, settled his troops down, and Marc Gasol made two buckets followed by a Matt Barnes three and the Grizzlies wouldn’t go away.
Harrison poked the ball away from an ill-advised dribble penetration by Mike Conley into both Barnes and Shaun Livingston, and Leandro Barbosa finished the foot race with a finger roll with a pushing foul by Matt Barnes.
The Layup King is going to get his, Matt Barnes: pic.twitter.com/GPd6ufxE3B
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 12, 2015
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But after that, turnovers ensued despite pretty good plays. Green boxed out Randolph nicely and forced a bad shot by Gasol, butBarbosa missed a point blank catch, Marreese Speights got a charge.
Speights got a block, but then mishandled a back pass from Thompson in transition. Conley missed an open runner trying to capitalize on that, Green got the rebound, but inexplicably threw a full-court two-handed chest pass almost 94 feet that got easily intercepted by Gasol.
Not to be outdone, Speights forced a turnover on defense under the Grizzlies’ hoop, but gave it right back to Allen, who converted the layup.
Despite a Klay-to-Festus feed for a dunk…
Dunks and layups — good offense: pic.twitter.com/rg0UJDC9bZ
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 12, 2015
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…and a nice Curry lefty scoop warding off the double-teaming defense with his shoulder, Memphis continued the ugly basketball with five straight points, all on Gasol free throws, as Golden State was in the penalty and Ezeli got caught for a slight elbow to the back on an offensive rebound.
Gasol got inside position again on a foul by Iguodala, but with Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton opting for Jason Thompson (“JT”) and James McAdoo as Ezeli had picked up his third personal, JT managed to drill a long jumper late in the shotclock to stretch the lead to 47-41 with 44 seconds remaining.
Jeff Green made a bad turnover on the next possession, throwing the ball into the backcourt after getting into the paint, but the Warriors couldn’t capitalize as Curry missed a 30-plus foot three from the top and, on the ensuing inbound after Klay got the offensive rebound and got his pass down low deflected out of bounds, Ian Clark, who was made active for the game for his hometown crowd ahead of Brandon Rush, missed a corner three, although he was open.
Golden State held a 47-41 lead heading into halftime. Harrison led the Dubs with 13 points and Gasol had 15 for the Grizz. Curry tallied 9 points on 1-for-5 downtown, but although the Warriors held Memphis to just 30% shooting, Golden State committed 10 turnovers.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mzepatos)
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