Looking at how the Memphis Grizzlies match up with the Golden State Warriors
The Point Guards
The battle of the point guards looks to be one of the more important match-ups of the game. You have the 2-time MVP and an underpaid superstar, Stephen Curry. Then you have an arguably, somewhat overpaid star, Mike Conley. Conley is looking to prove he is worth every bit of his record setting contract while Curry is trying to make sure people remember that he is a MVP level player after a disappointing Finals. Should be a fun one.
Scoring.
This part of the breakdown should be rather simple. While Conley isn’t a bad scorer, he averaged 15.3 ppg last season to go along with a solid 36.3 percent 3-point stroke, he’s no Stephen Curry. When it comes to scoring the ball, there is no one better. Curry is a constant threat to pull up from anywhere on the court, and I mean anywhere. The 2015-2016 season saw Curry average 30 (!!!) points per game while sitting out a plethora of fourth quarters, that’s ridiculous. So while Conley can score the ball, its pretty obvious.
ADVANTAGE: Curry
Rebounding.
Most point guards aren’t elite at rebounding, unless your name happens to be Russell Westbrook, and that holds true for these two as well. While Curry averaged more rebounds last year, 5.4 rebounds per game, than Conley, 2.9 rebounds per game, he didn’t have two solid rebounding big-men to compete with. Curry had the advantage of being a part of a small ball line-up which helped boost his rebounding numbers. With the addition of Parsons, Memphis should look to run their own small-ball lineup, which should help Conley’s rebounding numbers. So for now:
ADVANTAGE: EVEN
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Dunking with Wolves
Defense.
Now I’m going to say something that may make a few of you mad, but y’all stay with me. Here it goes: Steph Curry is overrated on defense. Before you point out that he averaged 2.1 steals a game last year, I know he did. Curry is a pretty good at picking pockets, but opposing teams like to exploit his one on one defense. That’s part of the reason Cleveland won The Finals last year. This is why Golden State likes to hide him on lesser players. While Conley isn’t an All-World defender, he more than holds his own against the Western Conference’s elite point guards. That’s something you can’t say about Curry.
ADVANTAGE: Conley
The Verdict.
With these two point guards matched up against each other, it’s sure to be a great game. With the two being almost evenly matched, I think Curry’s offensive advantage outweighs Conley’s defensive advantage.
Overall Advantage: Stephen Curry
Next: The Shooting Guards