Third quarter propels Durant, Warriors past Memphis.
Much has changed for the Warriors in a year. Twelve months after struggling to find motivation at the start of the season, Golden State is playing an inspired, joyful brand of basketball.
Because they haven’t needed to play catch-up like they often did last season, the Warriors entered Monday facing a curious reality: The third quarter — the period they had once dominated — had become their worst part of the game statistically, with opponents outscoring them 303-294 in the quarter in their first 10 games.
But in its 117-101 win over the Grizzlies at Oracle Arena, Golden State reverted to its old, good habits, riding a big third quarter to its eighth straight victory.
Memphis — much improved at 5-4 after going 22-60 last season — delivered an impressive first half to enter intermission with the game knotted at 58-58, only to fall victim
to one of the Warriors’ signature blitzes. In those 12 minutes, Golden State was at the peak of its powers, spreading the floor on offense and switching off screens on defense.
After the Warriors rode a 9-0 spurt to an 85-71 lead late in the third, Memphis called timeout. No answers came. When Alfonzo McKinnie drilled a wide-open three-pointer with 27.2 seconds left, the crowd really got into it. Moments later, after blocking Memphis guard Wayne Selden’s layup attempt as the quarter buzzer sounded, Stephen Curry turned toward the bench, nodded emphatically and unleashed a roar.
“I was hoping for the (Dikembe) Mutumbo finger wag, and we didn’t quite get it,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said.
Still, it was a fitting exclamation point to a period in which Golden State outscored Memphis 34-15. By missing 14 of their 19 shots, the Grizzlies were held to their season low for a quarter. Meanwhile, Curry and reserve big man Kevon Looney scored a combined 18 points in the period.
“The second half, we just got some stops and just kept moving the ball, kept knocking down shots,” forward Jonas Jerebko said. “We’re real hard to guard when we’re moving that ball.”
That Golden State was without Draymond Green, who missed the entire second half with a right foot contusion, only made its dominance more impressive. During the Warriors’ recent streak, no player had been more key than Green, who invariably seemed to provide an emotional lift when his team was lagging.
X-rays on Green’s right foot came back negative, and Kerr said it’s up in the air whether Green will play Thursday night against Milwaukee.
Though Green went scoreless in 14 minutes, the Warriors’ three other All-Stars — Klay Thompson (27 points), Kevin Durant (22 points, six assists, six rebounds) and Curry (19 points, seven assists) — shouldered plenty heavy loads. Unlike last season, when the bench was largely inconsistent, the Warriors continue to get timely contributions from their reserves.
Looney was a driving force in Golden State’s third-quarter surge. With 14 points on 6for-9 shooting, McKinnie scored in double figures for the third time this season, adding more highlights to his feel-good story line. Quinn Cook, who did not play in the previous two games, chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Warriors shot 50.6 percent from the field — 13for-24 from three-point range — as they piled up 29 assists to 13 turnovers. Memphis, which has given Golden State as many problems in the regular season as any team in the Kerr era, was left wrestling with a sobering truth: To beat the Warriors, you tend to need an inspired 48 minutes.
“First and foremost, (the Warriors) are good,” Memphis head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They know who they are, their DNA, their chemistry.
“When you run up against a very good team that has the weapons, tools and the chemistry where they understand where each guy is going to be offensively and defensively, it is tough.”