Watch the Memphis Grizzlies visit the Golden State Warriors for a place in the NBA playoffs live on Sky Sports Main Event and Arena from 2am in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Saturday 22 May 2021 07:17, UK
The Warriors bench waved with considerable glee as Dillon Brooks fouled out, Draymond Green summoned a double dosage of his basketball IQ and an animated Steph Curry channeled his inner Baron Davis as he lifted his jersey in ode to the former Golden State guard after draining a step-back 30-foot jumper to bury Memphis once and for all with 1:35 to play on Sunday.
Call it an unintentional homage to Taylor Jenkins' young, vibrant and dogged Grizzlies. They mauled and brawled, swooped and slalomed, harassed and hurried. Their persistence warranted an emotional Warriors victory. And in the end, all they really lacked was the inevitability of a Steph-shaped protagonist.
The Warriors turned away at the final horn well aware they had been in a scrap, Curry's 'leave it to me' behaviour down the stretch leaving a 113-101 scoreline less representative of the Grizzlies' involvement than the performance perhaps deserved.
An exclusive tour of the Curry exhibit can inflict short-term pain, but it too can be a lesson. Not so much a contribution to the blueprint to stopping him, because even when he shows you how it more often than not remains impossible, but more so a lesson in the intensity and on-court acumen required to compete at the top.
The Grizzlies have had a few days to revise their findings, sit a practice test in Wednesday's play-in win over the San Antonio Spurs and now head into the big exam, a win-or-go-home rematch with the Warriors, who were just hurt by LeBron James in the same way Curry hurt Memphis.
Golden State's golden snitch will weave his magic with a familiar shadow as Brooks welcomes more smoke after his diligent and admirable effort to nullify Curry, which he did so successfully for large periods of the game at the weekend.
Brooks did his utmost the suffocate the most dangerous man on the court and his influence showed upon fouling out with 6:12 remaining as the Warriors went on to reel off a 22-10 run in his absence behind 11 of 46 total points from Curry, who scored or assisted on four of his team's last six field goals.
He was a necessary pest. He had been sharp when Curry was in possession and attentive to his three-point-turned-cut disguises, unwavering focus paying respect to his largely unrivalled elusiveness without the ball. The way he attached himself to the hip of the three-time NBA champion further demonstrated what makes Curry so special though, from the slick handle to evade double teams, his shooting in transition and even the decoy ability his three-point threat on the perimeter poses. Even when it doesn't feel like he's there, he's impacting the game.
We will never know whether Brooks would have been able to sustain his blanket coverage during clutch time, but his blunt expression on the bench after Curry's daylight-providing dagger suggested he had juice to spare. Even then, the Grizzlies left knowing Brooks alone couldn't be the answer.
Jenkins' defensive rotation has seen his team lead the league in steals and rank top 10 in turnover rate. He will have seen Frank Vogel's masterstroke insertion of Wesley Matthews in the second half of the Lakers' win and hope for a similar addition of defensive savvy and adeptness in support of Brooks from a Kyle Anderson, a Brandon Clarke or a Xavier Tillman. The reigning champions needed their depth to overcome this Warriors team, and so will the Grizzlies.
"We're just going to be ready to come to play and play our game," said Brooks after the win over San Antonio, during which he helped limit DeMar DeRozan to 5-21 shooting. "If we play our game to the best of our ability and guys just do a little bit extra than what they've been doing, we'll be fine. We're going to bring the intensity and bring the energy, because we've got a goal in mind. I know from the beginning of the year, everybody was bought into that goal, and we're all locked in."
Their rotation can be pivotal when it comes to not only the task of foiling Curry for the duration, but also weathering the hot streaks expected from a team like the Warriors. Jenkins paid tribute to his side's composure following their win over the Spurs, with Memphis allowing their opponents to chip away at a 21-point first-quarter lead before battling to see out their fourth win by five points or fewer in the last month.
"Our mental toughness really showed in that second half, definitely in that fourth quarter after giving up the lead. But it's a credit to our group," said Jenkins. "They know it's a 48-minute game. There are ebbs and flows, ups and downs. We talk about that: no highs, no lows, and you've got to find different ways to win."
They'll need every ounce of that mental toughness.
The task of stopping Curry comes with a clause, namely the attention Green's vision and disruptiveness demands alongside the form of Jordan Poole, riding a streak of seven straight games with double-figure points, and Andrew Wiggins, who was exceptional in locking up James on Wednesday.
Memphis' best way of limiting Green as a creator and scorer will be luring him into a duel with their ever-present Jonas Valanciunas, who just posted a league-best fourth 20/20 game this season with 23 points and 23 rebounds against the Spurs having starred versus the Warriors with 29 points and 16 rebounds on the final day of the regular season.
The bearded Lithuanian has been the Grizzlies' most consistent performer all year, the grace of his pivot-and-hook shot often defiant of his size and his instinctive 'see-ball-get-ball' mentality at the rim a valuable asset for an inexperienced defensive unit. As much as he would relish evading Green, his job will be occupying the 31-year-old, who flaunted his All-Defensive credentials with a clinic against Anthony Davis, along with Kevon Looney.
Should Grayson Allen see extended time on the court following his return from an abdominal sprain then we could also him and Green engage in one of the most clear-as-day slanging mano a mano.
Wiggins' job will meanwhile transition from guarding James back to stifling the jinking Ja Morant, the Warriors man having also contributed as a scorer of late with 21 points against the Lakers following a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Grizzlies.
Memphis's gloriously innovative floor general is still notably finding his feet as a postseason player in the NBA. The Warriors did a fine job of narrowing the lanes in which Morant was able to work on Sunday as he finished with 16 points, nine assists and three rebounds. While his off-the-cuff genius and scintillating gyrations occasionally carved a route to the rim, his most productive outlet on the night was limited to feeding Valanciunas.
As Curry sprinkled dimes from beyond the arc, there came another reminder that Morant's shooting prowess remains with the boys in the lab. The 2020 Rookie of the Year was 7-21 from the field and 1-6 from deep against the Warriors, before going 8-20 and 2-5, respectively, against the Spurs in mid-week.
But in no way should that detract from the talent he possesses. The consistency as a shooter will come with time. The Grizzlies are in for something special when it does.
When we talk about lessons, nobody will have learned more from Curry or Sunday's defeat to the Warriors than Morant. Be it polishing his shot selection, his security in possession, or his off-ball ability.
While he wriggles into areas water can't, Jaren Jackson Jr. looms as a fellow Grizzlies cornerstone with an improving ability to both defend in space and shoot threes, and the league-leader in three-point percentage by a rookie Desmond Bane (43.2 percent) serves as a welcome complement amid Morant's development as a shooter.
Unlike the Warriors, the Grizzlies don't have their established killer capable of deciding a game single-handedly. Not yet.
It will take the panache of Morant, the power of Valanciunas, Brooks' stalking skills, the calculated approach of Anderson, bench production and a coming-of-age type shrewdness from a team that has the foundations to be playoff challengers for years to come.
As for this Warriors outfit, a run of just two defeats in their last 10 outings, including losing margins of five and three points, will have Steve Kerr drooling over the thought of a Curry, Green, Wiggins, James Wiseman and Klay Thompson quintet.
