Spurs-Clippers draws notice
While the Warriors were making final preparations Saturday for their Western Conference semifinal series against Memphis, they were also keeping an eye on the first-round series between the Spurs and Clippers.
“Hopefully, it goes 10 games,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut joked. “Hopefully, Adam Silver extends it a little longer. It’s been a great series.”
Reserve forward Marreese Speights was already considering the Western Conference finals.
“For the future, if we handle our business (in the semifinals), I’d rather play the Clippers than the Spurs,” Speights said. “That’s a proven basketball team, and coach ( Gregg) Popovich has a lot of things up his sleeve.”
Speights might get his wish. The Clippers eliminated the Spurs with a 111-109 victory in Game 7. Spartan love: Before playing each other this season in Memphis, former Michigan State for- wards Draymond Green and Zach Randolph exchanged a halfcourt greeting that was so powerful that it looked as much like a wrestling match as a hug.
“We come from the same place,” said the Warriors’ Green. “It’s a brotherhood there. It builds and it lasts for a lifetime, regardless if you played together or not.”
That doesn’t stop the trash talking once the games begin.
“Yeah, we talk a lot when we’re playing against each other. A lot,” Green said. “It’s all fun. It’s all love there. … He’s quiet about it. You won’t really notice it unless you’re on the court.” Huge underdogs: According to Bovada’s most recent odds, Memphis has the second-worst chance among the remaining teams of winning the NBA title at 18-to-1. The Warriors are 7-to-5 favorites, with Cleveland second at 7to-2.
“This isn’t our first rodeo,” said Randolph, who was on Memphis squads that knocked off the Western Conference’s top seeds in 2011 and 2013. “This isn’t the first time that the national media is saying we’re not going to win a game or that we’re going to get swept. But we’ve been here before, and we’re going to focus on us and take care of us.” Fighter’s chance: Some members of Manny Pacquiao’s entourage told Stephen Curry that the boxer is a huge fan of the point guard and his Warriors team. Pacquiao sent Curry a pair of signed boxing gloves, and Curry returned the favor with a signed jersey.
“He sends best wishes every time I see one of his guys,” Curry said. Pick up the pace: The Warriors lost nine straight games at Memphis from 2008 through ’13 as the Grizzlies managed to slow the pace of the game and pound the ball inside. The Warriors have won two of their past three in the Bluff City as they’ve increased their toughness and used their defense to spark their transition game.
“We don’t mind a physical game,” Bogut said. “We get a lot of pub for our offense, but the main reason why we’re here at this point of the season and the main reason why we had the win-loss record that we did is that we guard defensively. We’re just as physical as most teams we play against. It just doesn’t get noticed, because we have two guys who just fill up the scoresheet by shooting threes from all over the court.
“We’re not against playing a physical style, but we know in order to win this series, we have to play up-tempo and keep our defense up.”