The Memphis Grizzlies, who led by as many as 55 points in Game 5 vs the Golden State Warriors, enjoyed a wire-to-wire win to stay alive and guarantee themselves at least one more game.
The Grizzlies were never going to go quietly into the night and proved that with a resounding 134-95 win to bring the second-round playoff series to 3-2, with Game 6 set for May 13 at 9 PM CT.
Before we get into a must-win Game 6, let’s dive into some takeaways from an epic Game 5 win vs Golden State.
No.1: Memphis Grizzlies handed Warriors their fifth-worst playoff loss ever
The Grizzlies led Game 5 by as many as 55 points, but after both teams took their foot off the gas and put their reserves in for garbage time, Memphis ended up winning by 39 points.
That’s a big enough margin of victory to land on Golden State’s top-5 worst playoff losses of all-time, according to the Mercury News.
- 1973 vs Lakers: -56
- 1971 vs Bucks: -50
- 2014 vs Clippers -40
- 1969 vs Lakers -40
- 2022 vs Grizzlies -39
A team that’s played countless meaningful playoff basketball and won multiple championships has only been beaten this badly once and that was by the Lob City-era LA Clippers.
Handing Golden State such a massive defeat was extremely satisfying on multiple fronts.