The Golden State Warriors were at FedEx Forum to face the Memphis Grizzlies to try and close out the “Grizz” in six games.
Tony Allen returned to the starting lineup for Memphis, although he was not 100%, and Marreese Speights was still out for Golden State with a strained calf.
1ST QUARTER: Z-Bo Can’t Cover Barnes
The Warriors got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead as Stephen Curry swished a jumper…
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…Zach Randolph (aka “Z-Bo”) airballed a right baseline flip over Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson followed that up with an early offense triple swish from the right wing…
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…and after Courtney Lee back-rimmed a trey from the top, Barnes tipped the rebound to Draymond Green and Green went coast-to-coast for the lefty layup.
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Then Barnes took advantage of his mismatch on offense against Z-Bo, getting two dribble-and-pops to fall.
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Thompson drilled another three, this time on a touch pass from Andrew Bogut at the high pinch…
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…and then Barnes went past Randolph with a crossover at the elbow and fed Bogut at the rim for a dunk with a lefty dish.
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Mike Conley answered with right handed scoop past Green, but Klay found Curry with an extra pass in the left corner for a triple, and Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger took a timeout with 6:31 to go and the Warriors up, 19-10.
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Out of the timeout, Z-Bo couldn’t connect from the right baseline, Green got the rebound and the Warriors got the ball to Thompson again early, for another three, swishing from the left wing.
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Marc Gasol got an entry pass from a slip of a pick-and-roll, but was blocked at the rim by Bogut, then followed that up with an airball as he tried to fade away from the lunging Green on the left side.
Curry took the ball upcourt on the left perimeter, crossed the retreating Gasol left to right and behind-the-back and drilled a trey before Lee could run back and help.
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That gave the Warriors their biggest lead at 25-10 with 4:58 remaining.
Barnes continued his strong play, getting a dunk underneath fed by Curry, while Gasol continued to have trouble inside, although he got a reverse layup against Green.
After Conley missed a three badly, Steph came down the court, crossed Lee left to right on the right wing, behind-the-back again, then with Kosta Koufos between him and the rim, stepped back on the Memphis backup big and buried another triple.
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The Warriors took a 32-19 lead into the second frame as the #SplashBrothers combined for 22 points on 6-for-8 downtown.
2ND QUARTER: Bench Unit!
The bench unit came in to start the second period and, thanks to the hot shooting of Shaun Livingston (aka “Sdot”), the Warriors maintained a double-digit lead.
Grizzlies backup point guard Beno Udrih was no match for the length of Livingston, as Sdot spun past him for a layup just underneath Koufos, from the deep right block…
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…then canned a right baseline jumper assisted by David Lee.
Lee added a right-handed layup after the Dubs pushed the ball when Udrih missed a jumper, and Joerger burned another timeout with 8:46 left and the Warriors up, 36-25.
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The Warriors starters returned, but Grizzlies reserve Vince Carter provided some punch while Koufos did a good job on the offensive glass.
The next trip down, Koufos caught a high pass from Zbo on the right side, then turned a swished to make it 38-27 Warriors with 8:29 to play. Jeff Green followed with a jumper from just above the free throw line to make it 38-29 after Klay hit back rim.
Livingston got a baseline jumper after Thompson hit him with a pass, but Udrih answered from the left side and the Warriors lead was 40-31.
After trading a few more points, Draymond Green forced a steal but the Warriors turned it back over, leading to a Carter dunk attempt the resulted in Bogut’s 3rd foul and the Warriors lead falling back under double digits at 44-35.
Golden State ran a back-screen on a modified “elevators” play to free up Draymond on more than one occasion, frustrating Memphis even further.
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The Warriors answered with another run. Green got a dunk off a play designed for Steph to create, then Steph hit from the left elbow over Carter to give him 13 pts on 5/9 shooting. Another Dray cut resulted in an uncontested layup to make it 50-36 Dubs with 4:58 to play in the half.
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Good ball movement resulted in an open three for Carter who hit from the right wing. Curry was then called for traveling on the next possession, which was followed by two Randolph free throws to make it 52-41.
Dray attacked hard down the left side to score over Gasol, Green’s fourth layup of the quarter…
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…but was answered by Marc on the other end to make it 54-43.
Green split free throws after two empty trips, but again Gasol got down low and hit a bank shot from the right side to cut the Warriors lead to 55-45.
With just over a minute left Klay attacked and a drew an and-one foul on Carter to make it 58-45.
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Gasol then drew two more FTs to make it 58-47 with 45.5 to play.
Klay missed over Gasol on the baseline, which lead to a tough miss from Courtney Lee, but the Grizzlies got the offensive rebound and Lee redeemed himself with a shot that banked off the glass and spun down through the net to make it 58-49 at the half.
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