Golden State goes from whooping to getting whipped
MEMPHIS — From his courtside seat, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob grew more and more exasperated with each successive turnover, his shoulders slumped and his arms folded across his chest. Jordan Poole lost the ball. Then it was Damion Lee’s turn. Then Poole again. Then three by Draymond Green. Then another by Stephen Curry. For most of a dreadful second quarter, Golden State’s vaunted offense could barely get up a shot, let alone make one.
But the worst was somehow yet to come. Oh, was it ever.
The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 13495 at Fedex Forum on Wednesday, staving off elimination in this action-packed second-round series. According to ESPN, Curry said before tipoff that Golden State’s game plan was to “Whoop That Trick,” coopting a song from the Memphis-based movie, “Hustle & Flow.” The whooping went the other way in such historic fashion that Curry was pulled from the game with more than six minutes left in the third quarter, and the twotime MVP could only smile as Memphis rapper Al Kapone sang the song in his face during a fourth-quarter timeout. Green tried to make light of the Warriors’ predicament by spinning a towel over his head as he danced along.
“They’re not going to whoop that trick alone,” Green said. “We’re going to whoop that trick together if we’re going to whoop that trick. One thing I don’t respect is people who only bring it when they’re winning or embrace crowds when you’re winning. We call those front-runners. We’re not front-runners. We got our (butt) kicked. That’s all right. It happens. When you spew it out, you have to be willing to take it.”
Instead of a seriesclinching victory, Golden State suffered a jaw-clenching defeat that could complicate the franchise’s hopes of claiming a fourth title since 2015. The Warriors’ 39-point loss was the fifth-worst in the franchise’s postseason history and easily the worst since coach Steve Kerr’s 2014 arrival, surpassing a 30-point defeat in the 2016 Finals against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, it could have been much worse: Memphis led by 55 points late in the third quarter.
“It was awful,” Klay Thompson said. “It was embarrassing. We all had the mind-set of closing out tonight, but sometimes basketball is an inexact science.”
Remarkably, the Grizzlies embarrassed the Warriors even without all-star guard Ja Morant, who scored 47 points to key their Game 2 victory, only to suffer a bone bruise in his right knee during Game 3 that will probably end his postseason. Morant led the feverish celebrations on Memphis’s bench, revving his hands like he was riding a motorcycle and shouting “Grizz in 7!” during a postgame interview.
The Morant-less Grizzlies got along just fine without their leading scorer and best playmaker by turning to an oversized lineup that paired center Steven Adams, who was in the NBA’S health and safety protocols for the series’ first two games, and forward Jaren Jackson Jr. With Desmond Bane moving better following a recent bout of back tightness, and Dillon Brooks back on the court after getting ejected from Game 2 and serving a suspension during Game 3, Memphis lived up to its regular season status as one of the West’s top defenses.
Name a facet of the game and the Grizzlies almost certainly dominated as they pounded the Warriors into submission. Memphis forced 22 turnovers, scored 50 points in the paint, registered 37 assists and won the rebounding battle 55-37. Seven Grizzlies finished in double figures, led by Jackson, who scored 21 points, made four 3-pointers and finished with a plus-42 in 25 minutes.
“We did everything wrong,” Curry said. “Turnovers, offensive rebounds, fouls. On the road, if you give a team with desperation life like that, you don’t think you’re going to lose by 40, but you can lose control of the game quickly.”