Golden State Warriors played without leading scorer Stephen Curry, who has missed six games with a left foot sprain.
Follow Us
Desmond Bane scored 22 points, De’Anthony Melton and Dillon Brooks added 21 points each and the Memphis Grizzlies solidified their hold on second place in the Western Conference with a 123-95 victory over the short-handed Golden State Warriors on Monday night. Kyle Anderson added 13 points for Memphis, which holds a five-game lead over the third-place Warriors in the conference. The Grizzlies won their fifth straight and for the ninth time in 10 games. Bane and Melton were key, as they were in Saturday’s win over Milwaukee, combining to go 10 of 15 from 3-point range.
Jordan Poole led Golden State with 25 points, and Moses Moody finished with 18. Jonathan Kuminga scored 15 points as Golden State dropped its third straight and lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Read more: LaMelo Ball spoils Kyrie’s home debut
Golden State played without leading scorer Stephen Curry, who has missed six games with a left foot sprain. Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Otto Porter Jr. also sat out under various injury management situations. That put the Warriors in an unfavorable position facing the Grizzlies, who were without leading scorer Ja Morant, who missed his fifth straight game with right knee soreness, and Jaren Jackson Jr., who sat with right thigh soreness.
But Memphis has played well in Morant’s absence, winning the previous four after Morant was injured. The game opened with both teams struggling on offense. Neither team was shooting well to start, and Memphis was a step slow to 50-50 balls. The teams combined to make only 13 of 45 shots in the first quarter. Both were still mired at 25% each early in the second quarter before scoring started picking up – for Memphis.
”We obviously started a little slow,” Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown said after the game. ”(The Grizzlies) were a lot more physical than us in the first half. We didn’t compete at the level that we felt we needed to coming into their building.”
Read more: Lakers blow 23-point lead, despite 39 points from LeBron James
The Grizzlies shot 59% in the second, including making 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. With the Warriors still stuck at 25% shooting, Memphis outscored the Warriors 43-21 in the second and held a 63-37 lead at the break.
By the end of the half, Warriors coach Steve Kerr vehemently argued a no-call on the final play and was assessed two quick technicals, getting ejected for the second half as Brown took over the bench duties for Golden State. Poole helped the Warriors cut into Memphis’ lead slightly with 13 points in the third, but Golden State never got within less than 18 points. Memphis carried a 95-67 lead into the final quarter.
