Hot start, defense power victory
Thompson has 27 in 1st half
With the Warriors well on their way to a 97-84 win Wednesday night, Klay Thompson caught a pass, got smacked on the arm by Memphis guard Ben McLemore and missed a long jumper.
Thompson, upset with the no-call, jawed with referee Mark Ayotte and was assessed his seventh career technical. A player long known for his aversion to confrontation had grown frustrated with the Grizzlies’ game plan: make up for a lack of firepower with overthe-top physicality.
“I was hoping he would” get the technical, Kevin Durant said. “I knew at some point with all the grabbing and holding, they would let some stuff go. I’m sure that frustrated Klay.”
That Durant has received most of the attention for a string of dominant performances in Stephen Curry’s
absence has been a bonus for the ultra-low-key Thompson. But with five rotation players — including three starters and two All-Stars in their prime — sidelined Wednesday, Thompson had no qualms delivering one of his trademark scoring binges.
He hit his first nine shots and scored 27 of his gamehigh 29 points in the first half before concentrating on the defensive end to help push the Warriors’ winning streak to 10 games. For the first time since Curry got injured in a Dec. 4 win in New Orleans, Durant (22 points, eight rebounds) was content being Golden State’s No. 2 option.
Memphis, trying to start salvaging a disastrous season, tried to muddy up the pace and throw the Warriors out of sync with repeated reach-ins. The problem? A team that owns the league’s second-worst offense struggled to make shots with point guard Mike Conley sidelined by a left Achilles injury.
Golden State held Memphis to 33.3 percent from the field, including 10-for-44 in the second half. Only one player, center Marc Gasol, mustered more than 10 points.
“We did a great job defending,” Thompson said. “I think we did a good job adjusting that second half to contesting all three-point shots.”
Added head coach Steve Kerr: “We have to get better for sure. This was not a good performance, but I’m happy with the win, and I’m happy with the way guys are competing.”
To become the class of the NBA, Golden State needed a worthy complement to its torrid offense. The Warriors, long known for matador defense, began to make that part of the game a priority under then-head coach Mark Jackson. With the help of defensive guru Ron Adams, Kerr has built on the foundation Jackson set.
“This performance, was not but a good I’m happy with the win, and I’m happy with the way guys are competing.” Steve Kerr, Warriors head coach
After ranking third defensively in Jackson's final season, the Warriors have ranked first, fourth and second, respectively, in their three seasons under Kerr. Golden State, which employs a switch-heavy system, is one of two teams that has finished each of the past four seasons among the NBA’s top five in defensive efficiency (Boston is the other).
No player has been a bigger part of the Warriors’ stinginess than Green. The team’s emotional leader, he sets an energetic tone that ripples through the rest of the defense.
Among the slew of positive takeaways Golden State can glean from its recent rash of injuries: Even without Green, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, the Warriors can be elite defensively. Golden State, which entered Wednesday with the league’s sixthranked defense, has held five of its past eight opponents to fewer than 100 points.
Memphis managed 14 third-quarter points on 3for-16 shooting. Gasol’s 21 points were 11 more than any of his teammates, but he shot 5-for-15 from the field. Thompson, who routinely faced double- and tripleteams in the second half, excelled at guarding Gasol, who’s 7-foot-1, off screens.
As for the words Thompson uttered to get a rare technical?
“Nothing I want to repeat,” Thompson said. “Just learn from it and move forward.”