Fresh off a heartbreaking loss to the West’s worst team, the Memphis Grizzlies must now face the two-time reigning champs on the road.
The Memphis Grizzlies’ season was off to a seemingly great start prior to Sunday night. A last-second jumper by Devin Booker sealed a painful loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns; just their second victory of the season.
Instead of building some confidence against a weak foe, Memphis must regroup the very next day for a clash with the Golden State Warriors, who have been kicking all sorts of butt lately.
At 9-1 with a daunting 13.3 net rating, Golden State is by no means coasting through the early part of the season. A win against them is extremely tough to come by; what can Memphis do to pull it off?
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
So the worst team in your conference just hung an L on you. How do you respond?
Memphis will have to use the frustrating Phoenix outcome as motivation to come out with their best effort. Road back-to-backs are never easy, and this particular matchup will provide no soft spots.
But tonight’s game has the potential to be a defining moment for the Grizzlies’ season. They need to put last night’s loss behind them, but not forget it. Instead, leverage it as motivation for a more important game.
As impressive as the Warriors look right now, the Grizzlies know from experience how to pull off an early-season upset against them.
Keep the Chef From Cooking
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Steph Curry is using the entire NBA as his personal broiler; charring anything within reach. Through ten games, he’s averaging a career-high 32.5ppg on an absolutely absurd 54/51/92 shooting splits. For perspective, he clocked 30.1 on 50/45/91 in 2015-16 and was named the NBA’s MVP. Unanimously.
Mike Conley and Shelvin Mack will have to bring their A-games defensively in hopes of containing Curry, however relative a term that may seem. If he goes off, The Chef is capable of sinking entire times by himself, certainly an offensively-challenged one like Memphis.
Obviously having Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson flanking Curry provides little room for error, or help, from the rest of the Memphis defense. Containing those two will be crucial, but Curry has been nearly unstoppable so far.
Pace in Point
If Memphis wants to stand a chance in this game, they need to grind it (pun intended) to a halt. Golden State is too efficient offensively; give them more chances to score, and they will burn you. Currently the NBA’s second-slowest team, the Grizzlies are suited to slow that tempo.
Offensive efficiency will also be crucial. Memphis can quell GSW’s lethal transition by limiting turnovers (eighth-best 13.7 TO%), however, the concern is more basic.
The Grizzlies simply don’t score very much. Even adjusted for pace, Golden State still outscores them by 13 points/game. Memphis is one of the league’s best defensive teams, but the Warriors are notorious stat-busters. They’re capable of torching anyone, and the Grizzlies will need to plumb their scoring depth for an all-around effort.