Golden State Ends Eight Game Skid In Dominant Win Over Memphis
Alec Burks scores a season-high 29 points and adds eight rebounds as Golden State ends their eight game losing streak, beating Memphis, 114-95.
Coming out of a tough week, the Dubs looked to put their recently found positives toward a win Tuesday night in Memphis.
Even undermanned, the Warriors were able to cause enough problems for Memphis that the game was pretty much over before halftime. After trailing Memphis 30-28 during the first quarter, the Warriors exploded in the second, going on a 28-8 run that covered over eight minutes. Golden State pushed the momentum to a 20 point lead. The Warriors shot 47 percent from the field and 31 percent from deep for the game and recorded a familiar 33 assists. Those numbers were the result of ball movement, spacing, and trying to get the best shot possible.
The Warriors built their 61-46 halftime lead behind Memphis' poor shooting and poor defense. That can be attributed to Kerr's tenth lineup change-- inserting Burks at point, bumping Green to the two while keeping Paschall and Robinson III at the wings.
Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III lead the scoring push for Golden State through the first half, combining for 31 points. Burks would go on to lead all scorers with 29 points.
"We started putting stops together," Green said. "Once we started putting stops together, we were able to get out and get some buckets in transition. Get the game in our pace. When you are putting three, four stops in a row together, you are able to open the lead up."
Coming out of halftime, the Warriors picked up where they left off, scoring 26 of the first 30 points of the second quarter.
Memphis got the deficit to single digits late in the third quarter for the only time in the second half, but Golden State never let the Grizzlies threaten in the fourth.
The Warriors held the Grizzlies to 40 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. They also forced 12 turnovers, snagged 40 defensive rebounds, and recorded ten blocks. Marquese Chriss had four of those blocks.
Chriss and Eric Paschall each had 17 points for the Warriors. Draymond Green was just short of his 24th career triple-double with eight points, ten rebounds, and 11 assists.
"Losing sucks," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said candidly. "When you lose seven in a row, it's miserable. .Tonight, our players were rewarded, and now, hopefully, we can kind of use this as some momentum and get some more wins."
Last night was the first game, not counting the Warriors’ early victory against the Pelicans pre-Curry's injury, that the Warriors were able to start and quarters well.
Basketball is a game of runs, so naturally, you're going to give up a run at some point. The mark of a good team is being able to string together timely stops and buckets. Vintage Kerr teams did this effortlessly, practically being known for third-quarter marathon type runs. Starting a quarter off well creates a lead while ending the quarter well deflates a team. The young Dubs were able to do that consistently on Tuesday night.
But, if you've been watching this team throughout the year, you know that they have been consistently inconsistent. Hopefully, they can learn from their successes from Tuesday night and build on it as they have a quick turn around, playing MVP candidate Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night in Dallas.
Moving forward, the Warriors announced Tuesday that Kevon Looney, who has missed the last 13 games (neuropathy) and Alen Smailagic, who's been out since the preseason (ankle), has been cleared to begin accelerated on-court basketball activities and will work out with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors.
This will give the Dubs two more lengthy defenders and capable scorers-- Looney coming off of his best year as a pro. Adding these two will provide the much-needed depth and added inside/stretch four presence.
The Warriors tip-off against the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night at 4:30 PT on ESPN.