Game Preview: Memphis Grizzlies vs. Golden State Warriors
Much to the chagrin of all Grizzlies fans, the first West Coast trip of the season has arrived, and of course the Grizzlies will be playing the Warriors the first game of the trip. Other than having to stay up late to watch the whole game, the game itself should set the precedent for how well the road trip’s going to go. Steph Curry is as hot behind the three-point line as he has ever been. To put that into perspective, Curry shot 63% overall and made all 11 of his free throws for a whopping total of 53 points against the Pelicans on Saturday. James Harden on the other hand, has scored 54 points this season. Tom Haberstroh, an NBA insider at ESPN, made the quip that Harden could actually make all 24 of his next 3 point shots and Steph would still have a higher three-point percentage. These facts aren’t just alarming for Grizzlies fans but for every basketball fan out there. If the Grizzlies want the win tonight, Tony Allen needs to lock Steph Curry out completely.
What should bother Grizzlies fans the most is how lazy the paint defense was against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. The Grizzlies allowed the Nets to score 91 points with only 9 of those points coming from the three-point line, but interestingly enough, the Grizzlies shot 9 of 23 from long range. Will that kind of tradeoff be worth anything against the sharpshooting splash brothers? Hopefully, the Grizzlies will start establishing some continuity in their game play soon. One could argue that the Grizzlies have not consistently played their style of defense the past three games, but let’s also make note that the season has barely started.
The Memphis Grizzlies visit the Golden State Warriors on the first game of a five-game road trip. The Grizzlies will also face the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trailblazers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Utah Jazz on the trip. Grizzlies vs. Warriors starts tonight at 9:30 p.m. CST on Fox Sports South.
Bo Kitzman is a senior at the University of Memphis' Lambuth Campus. Bo likes music and sports, but playing music is his favorite. You should buy Bo burritos. Bo loves burritos.
Header image taken by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images.
