They say a series only gets interesting once a team wins on the road and the Memphis Grizzlies rocked the Oracle on Thursday to deliver the Warriors their first playoff loss in 2015.
Behind the defensive prowess of Tony Allen and Mike Conley, the Grizzlies smothered the best offensive back-court in the NBA, which includes 2015 MVP Stephen Curry, holding them to just 32 points on 13-34 shooting (3-17 from deep).
Conley, coming back from a facial injury and wearing a protective mask, had no problem finding his game in a dominant performance (22 points on 8/12 shooting).
As the series shifts to Memphis, look for the Grizzlies to continue their physical play on both ends of the court. They love to play in what they call the “Grindhouse” and with the crowd behind them they will be tough to beat.
With their two bigs in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph banging away down low and their lengthy wing players hustling on every play, expect a scrappy affair where every possession is fought hard.
The Warriors, on the other hand, need to come out firing to shake off a sub-par performance in Game 2.
Finding ways to keep the ball moving to the open shooters is vital for finding their offensive game and that will be a big challenge against the Grizzlies brand of half court defence.
If both Curry and Klay Thompson can find their rhythm then that will trickle down to the rest of the team but they need to find ways to score on both Conley and Allen.
These two teams are polar opposites in terms of style but that’s what makes it such an interesting match-up.
Expect a physical game where no quarter is given by either side.
Prediction – Warriors by 5.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
GAME OVER 99-89 - Warriors turn the ball over and that will be it. Memphis hold off the charging Warriors for a great 10 point win. The Warriors really had no answer for Marc Gasol & Z-Bo in the paint or on the pick and roll action. Memphis know they can dominate them down low and will look to push this advantage in the next game. Shaky starts from both Curry and Thompson meant they were playing from behind most of the game. Allen, Conley & Lee deserve credit for being aggressive and not letting them settle. So Memphis go up 2-1 with a chance to extend that to 3-1 at home. Warriors have some soul searching to do if they want to get ack in this series. Thanks for joining me, now go spoil your mums.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 0:30 99-89 - Warriors playing the foul game as Conley hits both. 10 point game and you have to think this is over.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 0:33 97-89 - Curry has a wide open 3, looks good but hits back iron. Conley drives early and is rewarded with a tough lay-up Curry pushes it and gets fouled. Hits the first but can't get the second, another crucial miss and the Warriors down 8 with time against them.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
Memphis posting up every play now and getting away with running the clock down. Not smart play but it is working.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 1:09 95-88 - Another last second shot by Memphis and Lee can't hit the three. Green then loses the ball going the other way and Allen scores on the fast break. Huge turnaround play there. Warriors TO.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 1:45 93-88 - Iggy goes to the basket, nails the shot and gets the foul. Gasol has fouled out, which is huge. Officials now reviewing the Gasol three and it is ruled a two pointer. Iggy hits the FT, 5 point game now.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 2:00 94-85 - Iggy misses a jumper but Gasol fouls Green on the rebound. He has 5 now. Green hits 1/2. Another last second shot and this time it's a Gasol three pointer that he somehow banks in. Wow that was another lucky break for Memphis.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 2:45 91-84 - Lee hits a much needed three for the Grizzlies to put the lead out to 7. They have really shut down on offence as the Warriors have come back from 19 down. This was their main criticism in past years, not being able to score late in playoff games and it is coming back to haunt them. The turnovers and fouls aren't helping either.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 3:00 88-84 - Memphis turn it over as their offence is playing for time. Klay gets the steal, hits the floor but doesn't travel. Curry gets fouled, hits the first but a Warriors lane violation ruins the second. Memphis throws it away down low and Barnes goes all the way for a lay-up 4 POINT GAME!!!!!!!
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 4:00 88-81 - Grizz still playing down the shot clock and Z-Bo bails them out with a friendly roll. Warriors run the ball quickly and answer back. Gasol backs down, misses and then fouls Barnes trying to get the rebound on the floor. Barnes hits both and the lead is 7.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 5:00 86-77 - Conley hits 1/2 to extend the lead to 13 and then Klay fakes Allen out to then get a clean look. 10 point game. Gasol misses on the other end and Allen fouls Iggy. Hits the third after a lane violation on the second to make it a single digit game. We have a game if the Warriors can get hot, which we all know he can.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 6:00 85-73 - The game has really bogged down now. Barnes misses a three but Klay gets the lucky board as he wasn't watching the miss. He drives and gets fouled. Misses both!!!!!!! Wow. Conley can't make him pay with a missed three. Barnes grabs the rebound and gets fouled by Carter. Warriors already in the penalty so FTs coming. Barnes makes both to bring the lead down to 12. Memphis running the shot clock down on every possession, which is a tricky game to play but Conley gets bailed out on a last second drive. FTs coming after the TO.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 7:00 85-71 - Barnes drives the lane but gets called for a foul as he pushes off trying to get the rebound. Gasol posts up Green but the jumper doesn't fall. Curry with the rebound but his foot is out of bounds.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 8:00 85-71 - Iggy gets fouled at the top of the key but can only hit 1/2. Udrih can't hit a late shot clock attempt. Allen gets his 4th steal but Klay denies Udrih at the rim, could have easily been a foul as there was a lot of body contact.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 9:00 85-70 - Memphis have multiple opportunities on that possession and Green finally hits a shot to stop the Warriors run.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 9:33 83-70 - Allen gets denied by Iggy and Speights gets his 6th straight points to make it a 13 point game. Can the Warriors get back in this after the TO?
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 10:00 83-68 - Z-Bo nails another jumper to push the lead out to 19. Warriors miss but get the ball back, Klay with a paddock of space and can't get the three to fall. Warriors get it back and Speights hits a long jumper right in his range. A Memphis TO leads to Speights going coast to coast before being fouled by Udrih. He hits both. Impressive handle for the big fella.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
4Q 11:00 81-64 - Udrih drives to the rim and gets fouled by Speights. Hits both. Warriors can't score and then Green shorts a three pointer.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
The Warriors closed to 6 in the 3rd Q but a barrage of Gasol and Z-Bo quickly got the lead back out to double digits. Not sure the Warriors have another big run in them with Gasol so effective on the pick and roll. Warriors having a tough time guarding it.
Mark Pybus
Roar Guru
3QT - 79-64 - Z-Bo gets yet another one that then inspires Ezili to put up a floater on the other end, which falls. Nice move by Festivus there. Udrih is then fouled but can only get 1 FT as the Grizz are in the penalty. Curry then gets fouled trying to get the 2 for 1 and doesn't make a mistake. Grizz play for the final possession with a 2 sec difference between game clock and shot clock but Udrih can't get the last second three to fall. Grizz by 15 heading into the final dance.