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Warriors' 16-game win streak stopped by Grizzlies

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) The Golden State Warriors' 16-game winning streak is over, and they're ready to start anew.

First, coach Steve Kerr wants a couple practices.

The Warriors wrapped up a three-game road swing along with the longest winning streak in franchise history Tuesday night in Memphis with the Grizzlies beating Golden State 105-98 thanks to 20 straight points by their bench to start the second quarter.

''We understand it was a nice run and something the franchise has never done before,'' Golden State star Stephen Curry said. ''It's put us in a good position to take a tough loss like we did tonight and keep moving. We'll be all right. . It was fun while it lasted.''

The Warriors still have the NBA's best record at 21-3. They just lost for the first time since Nov. 11 against the Spurs, also the last team to beat Memphis. This was the first time in NBA history in which both teams had 19 or more wins in the first 24 games - the Grizzlies improved to 20-4.

Kerr noted the streak hadn't gotten close to the 27 straight the Miami Heat won between February and March 2013, let alone threatening the Lakers' 33-game streak back in 1971-72. All Golden State's streak meant was an increase of a couple extra reporters following the team.

''I haven't thought about the streak really at all other than just enjoying the winning part,'' Kerr said. ''The biggest thing now we need is a couple days of practice. We haven't had a real day of practice in a long time. We won't have one (Wednesday), but we'll have a couple this weekend, which will be good for us. We just have to bounce back.''

Kerr remains tied with Mike Dunleavy for the record with 16 straight wins by a rookie head coach, matching what Dunleavy did in 1991 with the Clippers. Golden State still has the NBA's best record at 21-3.

''We won 16 games in a row, and that's hard to come by,'' Warriors forward Draymond Green said. ''It doesn't happen every day. It was a great streak. Streaks are made to be broken. We can't expect to win 60 games in a row.''

The Warriors played without center Andrew Bogut for a fourth straight game, and he will be re-evaluated Wednesday after the team said before tipoff that Bogut now has chondromalacia and bone edema in his knee instead of simply tendinitis. They also were without David Lee, who's dealing with a hamstring problem.

Golden State found a way to counter Memphis' inside strength by matching the Grizzlies point for point in the paint, and the Warriors even outrebounded Memphis (49-48).

But Marc Gasol scored 24 and Zach Randolph added 17 as they combined for the same amount of points as Klay Thompson, who had 22, and Curry who had 19. Curry struggled, hitting 9 of 25 from the floor, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.

Vince Carter and Beno Udrih led Memphis' bench in taking control of the game scoring the first 20 points of the second quarter, turning Golden State's 30-24 lead at the end of the first into a 44-30 deficit even as the Warriors had starters Thompson and Harrison Barnes on the floor. Carter hit three straight 3s and tied his season high of 11 during the quarter and finished with 16 points.

''They deserve all the credit for what they did,'' Gasol said of the Grizzlies' reserves. ''They came in, I thought defensively they did an amazing job.''

The Warriors trailed by 14 and got within two twice in the fourth quarter, the last at 90-88 on an alley-oop dunk for Shaun Livingston with 5:09 to go. Memphis responded with a 7-0 run capped by two foul shots for Courtney Lee after Kerr and Warriors guard Andre Iguodala each picked up a technical foul.

Curry missed back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, and he wasn't happy at throwing away a pass late with the Warriors missing a couple key shots.

''We got decent shots, we just had to put together a perfect end of the game to come back from the deficit,'' Curry said.

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