The Warriors won their penultimate road game of the season, using a fourth quarter comeback to knock off the Grizzlies 100-99 on Saturday night.
The Warriors won their penultimate road game of the season, using a fourth quarter comeback to knock off the Grizzlies 100-99 on Saturday night. Draymond Green led Golden State with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Stephen Curry nearly notched a triple-double 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Harrison Barnes scored in double-figures for the 10th consecutive game. With the victory, Golden State improves to 71-9 on the season.
GAME LEADERS
Golden State struggled from long distance for the vast majority of Saturday’s contest, but got off to a promising start with both Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes sinking three-pointers within the opening minute of the game. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Memphis responded to each three-pointer with a trey of their own, as the grinding Grizzlies managed to keep pace with the Dubs in the early going before opening up a 17-11 lead with 7:43 remaining in the opening quarter. The Warriors, however would go on to outscore Memphis 17-4 over the next five minutes to take their largest lead of the game at 28-21. The Grizzlies would respond with a 7-0 run before Draymond Green’s three-pointer with 30.3 seconds remaining closed out the scoring in the frame and sent the game into the second quarter with Golden State holding a slim 31-28 advantage.
Memphis would flip the tables on the Warriors halfway through the second quarter, taking a 42-39 lead with 6:08 left to play in the half. Jarrell Martin’s layup with 3:43 remaining extended the Grizzlies’ advantage to 48-43 before Golden State closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 53-50 lead into halftime.
The two sides traded the lead back and forth through the first seven minutes of the second half, with neither team able to generate a cushion of more than four points. Then, after Klay Thompson had put Golden State back in front 65-63 with 4:41 remaining in the frame, Memphis caught fire, while the Warriors went ice cold. The Grizzlies would go on to score the next 11 points to jump back in front, and after Stephen Curry’s three-pointer with 6.1 seconds left pulled the Dubs within six points, Xavier Munford’s buzzer-beating layup sent the game into the fourth and final quarter with Golden State trailing Memphis 78-70.
The Grizzlies expanded their lead to double-digits three separate times within the opening half of the fourth quarter, but after Matt Barnes scored four-straight points to put Memphis up 90-80 with 6:20 remaining in the game, the Warriors began to make their comeback. Golden State’s bench, which had combined for a total of four points in the first three quarters of the game, got the Warriors started by scoring the next four points. Then, after Matt Barnes sank all three free throws to rebuild Memphis’ lead to nine points, Draymond Green followed back-to-back three-pointers from Curry and Andre Iguodala with a layup to pull Golden State within a single point at 93-92 with 3:32 left in the game. The Grizzlies wouldn’t go away easily, however, as Zach Randolph scored the next four points to put Memphis up 97-92 with 2:24 left on the clock. Draymond Green converted a three-point play on the ensuing possession, and after a Memphis’ missed shot, Curry found Harrison Barnes for a three-pointer to put the Warriors back in front 98-97 with 1:40 remaining in the game. Matt Barnes was fouled on the ensuing possession, and his two free throws would put the Grizzlies back in the lead for the final time at 99-98, but Draymond Green managed to tip in Curry’s missed layup attempt to give Golden State a 100-99 advantage with exactly 1:00 left in the game. That would prove to be the final score in the game, as the Warriors survived a last-second attempt from Lance Stephenson to escape with their record-tying 33rd road victory of the season. With the win, Golden State improves to 71-9 on the season. They’ll look to keep the record-breaking trend going when they play their final road game of the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.