OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors collapsed against the Memphis Grizzlies, losing 128-119 after they owned a 24-point second-half lead. It was a game that featured the Stephen Curry fans have been waiting for (40 points on 27 shots), up until its waning moments, when he and the Warriors went frigid. As happened in the Christmas Day game against Cleveland, Golden State’s awkward crunch-time offense foiled them.
“Our fourth-quarter offense has been atrocious,” Draymond Green glumly appraised of the general trend. He said of Friday’s meltdown, “I can really care less. I'm actually happy we lost today, because there are some things that we need to correct in order to win a championship.”
The game started as Curry’s breakout. The surprise wasn’t “when” so much as “where.” His 17-point first quarter came with five baskets at the rim. With the Grizzlies selling out to stop Curry from range (even in a down season, teams guard Curry relatively the same), he used Memphis’ energy against them in a bit of basketball jiu-jitsu. Klay Thompson’s buzzer-beater at the half was illustrative. Durant moved the ball to Curry, who pump faked, drove and found Thompson at the last moment.
In the third quarter, Curry got loose from deep, raining four 3-pointers over the Grizzlies. A patient sequence ended in a Draymond Green shovel pass, followed by a splash. His next came after a long dribbling sequence when Marc Gasol didn’t venture far out enough for the switch. The most impressive of the flurry came off a four-point play when he fired up a shot in transition, as Vince Carter flipped him like a tackling dummy.
Other than whatever bumps and bruises might have resulted from that play, the Warriors were cruising. All was well. The game was won. Golden State entered the fourth quarter, armed with a 19-point lead.
Then, as sometimes happens to this club, Golden State played lethargically and quickly ceded much of what they’d earned. Their David West plus-length lineup struggled to score, and it helped to fuel a 23-6 run for Memphis. It took the Warriors more than seven minutes to score those six meager points.
Down the stretch, using the Super Death Lineup (Curry, Thompson, Iguodala, Green, Durant), it looked like the Warriors would power through -- even with the awkwardness of Durant guarding burly Zach Randolph. At the 1:20 mark, leading by two, Curry got the lumbering Gasol switched onto him, drove and stutter-stepped through contact for the layup.
Then, the end of regulation was ugliest of all for Golden State. Tony Allen muscled home a follow-up to a key offensive rebound. With the Warriors up two, the Warriors delivered what might have been their most awkward sequence of the season. As Curry dribbled, it appeared that Durant did not know where to be, as Green gesticulated. The play led to a Curry miss, salvaged by a Thompson rebound. From there, Durant and Curry deliberated over what was supposed to happen, until Curry finally gave up the rock. Then Curry set a less-than-forceful screen and Durant, facing Zach Randolph’s closeout, missed an off-the-dribble 3. Green sauntered to the bench looking less than pleased, before exchanging heated words with Durant.
“He said we should have stuck with the pick-and-roll,” Durant said of the conversation with Green. “He didn't say anything about the shot if that's what you want to know.”
Curry said of the sequence, “It was kind of a, just lollygagging into it. Obviously KD takes that shot, he makes it, things are a little different. Same with me and the couple shots I made, but if we executed with force, knowing what we wanted to get out of the possession, everybody's on the same page, it might look a little different. The timing wasn't great at all and I think there was a little bit of uncertainty as to what we were trying to get out of the possession.”
On the next possession, Green switched onto Mike Conley. The Memphis point guard dribbled, stepped back and lofted a midrange strike. For the potential win, Curry was hounded by JaMychal Green into a long, unanswered prayer.
The Warriors continued their struggles into overtime. After some passive plays, Green got to the rim, absorbing contact for an and-1. On the next possession, Green stole the ball from Troy Daniels, only to give it up with an overzealous pass taken by Allen. The resulting Daniels 3 pushed a three-point Memphis advantage to six.
Durant followed Green’s lead, pump-faking for an and-1 layup. Except, not quite. The play went under official review, when it was then called as a foul -- on Durant. A likely three points were wiped away, 122-116. Though Green responded, after finding an opening Klay had vacated, and banging home a 3, the Warriors couldn’t right themselves. Another Mike Conley step back effectively ended this one, as Golden State lost more and more of their grip.
In the aftermath, Green placed the blame on the collective. “Klay's standing in the fourth quarter. It's not Klay's fault. It's our fault. It's Steve's fault. It's my fault as a leader on the floor, as a floor general. It's Steph's fault as a floor general to get us in plays, to get everybody moving.”
This was an embarrassing end for a scrutinized team, reminiscent not only of their Christmas Day issues, but also of a super team from the recent past. This looked like shades of the 2010-2011 Miami Heat. In the highest leverage moments, Golden State looked uneasy with who should lead and how it should happen. There is time to addressing these issues, but as Green indicated, if the Warriors are to fulfill their promise, they had better get moving when it matters.
