Golden State Warriors (4-2) at Memphis Grizzlies (2-3)
Tipoff: Saturday. 11/9/2013, 5:00PM PDT
Location: FedEx Forum Memphis, Tennessee
TV: CSNBA | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
Grit. And. Grind. Those are the three words representative of the style played by the Memphis Grizzlies, yet they could easily be representative of the Warriors in last night’s 76-74 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors have been winless in the regular season in San Antonio since Tim Duncan was selected 1st overall in 1997. Who would have expected this franchise to stand strong as a defensive force and lose on a last second layup attempt without their franchise player? If your hand isn’t raise you better catch up with reality.
The Warriors held the San Antonio Spurs to under 40% from the field (39.2 to be exact) in a losing effort. The Spurs so far this season average 46.2% yet held on to secure the 2nd best record in the league knocking the Warriors into a 5-way tie for third and taking the inaugural NBA Title Belt from the Warriors all in the same contest.
Many positives were too be found in last night’s loss, more so than any negatives. Tonight, the Warriors face off on the road against another Western Conference power. The Grizzlies have struggled so far this season and are currently winless against the Western Conference. The Grizzlies provide a formidable front-court match up with the Warriors as David Lee and Andrew Bogut could square off against Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, a matchup we unfortunately didn’t get the benefit of seeing last year.
The missing piece from last night’s game, Stephen Curry is day-to-day and could provide the rejuvenating and healthy spark the Warriors need facing a Grizzlies team that hasn’t played since Wednesday. Curry playing or not could really be the key in this one as the team went all out last night in a formidable loss to the runner-up to the NBA Title. One positive if Curry happens to sit is A) Tony Allen isn’t as or close to as dangerouse as any guard the Spurs put on the court and B) no matter how great of defense Allen can play against Thompson I’d be shocked if he shoots as bad as he did last night (5-16 and 1-5 from 3.)
Last season the Warriors were 0-3 against the Grizzlies losing by a total of 23 points between the 3 games and giving up no less than 94 points in the 3 contests. The Warriors shot 40% from 3 last night, but missed out on timely shooting from players such as Klay Thompson. If the team can receive a bounce back from Thompson and the addition of a returned Curry the Grizzlies could be in trouble as their bigs have yet to square off against Bogut as we know him so far this season.
Keys to game
Curry playing, if healthy: The Warriors lost a tough, grueling game last night and have to travel from San Antonio to Memphis to face a tough, grueling team on 2 night’s rest. What more added energy could the Warriors use than a fresh-legged Curry?
Stay out of foul trouble: Bogut and Lee are only beneficial against Randolph and Gasol if they are on the floor, simple as that.
Bounce back game from Klay Thompson: Tony Allen is a tough defensive opponent, who better to have a bounce-back game against? Things can’t get much worse than 5-16 shooting for Thompson, so expect a better performance tonight.
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