Grizzlies make score look respectable, still fall to Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are here to crush your soul.
By all accounts, the Warriors should be coasting right now. They've known since March that the road to the finals would run through Oracle Arena. They clinched the NBA's best record 10 days ago. They'd be forgiven for taking it easy down the stretch. Hell, their Eastern Conference counterparts just lost to the Knicks.
But the Warriors would rather crush souls.
The Memphis Grizzlies were in town Monday night, desperate for a win. After looking for most of the season like the surefire No. 2 seed in the West, their hopes of even opening the playoffs at home were in serious jeopardy.
Would Warriors coach Steve Kerr play it cautious as rest his starters against a hungry, notoriously physical squad?
"We're not sitting anybody," Kerr said before the game. "I believe in keeping rhythm."
Mission accomplished.
Klay Thompson scored 26 points in the second quarter, a single-quarter mark bettered this season only by his own preposterous NBA-record 37 (and equalled only by his teammate Steph Curry). He finished with 42 points on 15-of-21 shooting and was 8-of-10 from 3-point range. How's that for rhythm?
The final score won't tell the tale, because the Grizzlies outscored the Warriors' B-team by 23 in garbage time (i.e. the entire fourth quarter), but this was a dismantling. The Warriors led by as many as 32 and took a 27-point cushion into the fourth quarter, whereupon Kerr finally relented and took his starters out of the game.
It's something Curry has gotten used to this season, as the Warriors have outscored their opponents by double-digits. On average.
Steph Curry will miss an 18th 4th quarter for blowout reasons
— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) April 14, 2015
There were caveats, however, and the Grizzlies shouldn't hang their heads too low, even though the loss officially cost them any chance at snagging the second seed.
For one thing, they're banged up, and were playing without starting point guard Mike Conley and shooting guard Tony Allen, their two best perimeter defenders. For another, nobody beats the Warriors at Oracle; the win improved Golden State's home record to 38-2.
Considering they'll have homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs, they might just be a problem.