Series Preview: Warriors vs. Grizzlies

After both advancing past the first round, the Warriors and Grizzlies match up in a best-of-seven series in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Sunday, May 312:30 p.m.Oracle ArenaTV: ABCRadio: KNBR 1050

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When the Warriors tip off the opening game of their second round series against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, it will have been more than a week since the last time the Dubs played in a postseason game. That comes in stark contrast to the Grizzlies, who after dispatching the Trail Blazers in five games on Wednesday, will be coming off of only three days of rest. Still, after a regular season in which back-to-backs and three games in five nights are commonplace occurrences, both teams should be fresh and ready to go for what projects to be an extremely intriguing series, on paper at the very least.

Forget the remaining playoff teams – there are no two teams in the entire league with more contrasting styles than that of Memphis and Golden State. One side relentlessly sprints up and down the court; the other prefers to slow the pace to a crawl. One team stretches the defense with prolific long-range shooting; the other makes no secret of its intentions to dominate in the paint, and yet does it anyway. While the Warriors and Grizzlies couldn’t seem to be any more opposite when they have the ball in their hands, it’s the other side of the court in which they can be very similar. While Golden State possessed the best Defensive Rating in the league during the regular season (allowing 98.2 points per 100 possessions against), Memphis wasn’t far behind, ranking fourth in the NBA with a Defensive Rating of 99.9.

The regular season, however, is obviously played under an extremely different set of circumstances, and while the Warriors and Grizzlies have only four and five postseason games, respectively, thus far from which to glean and assess, some interesting statistical notes come to light upon doing so. For instance, of all the first round playoff teams, the Warriors were the best offensive rebounding team, grabbing 30.9 percent of available offensive boards, as well as the best fast break team, averaging 22.5 fast break points per game. The Grizzlies, on the other hand, turned the ball over at the lowest rate of all playoff teams (just 8.7 percent of their possessions) and shot the best rate from the free throw line, nailing 85.0 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe. What can we gather from these insights? Well, really nothing different from what we already knew. The Warriors crash the boards on both ends of the floor and look to push the pace at every possible opportunity, while the Grizzlies are more deliberate in their approach, perfectly content to let their big man tandem of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph bruise their way to close-range attempts while forcing their opponent into foul trouble. Granted, those statistics were compiled against teams already eliminated from the playoffs, but they speak to both the Warriors and Grizzlies ability to stay true to their identity despite the increased competitiveness of postseason play.

So, then, how might we expect the two teams to perform now that they’re forced to face each other? The series will have more than it’s fair share of physicality, that much is for sure. With guys like Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Tony Allen, Gasol and Randolph all expected to see heavy minutes and often matched up against one another, bruises will be abound and any drive to the basket will not be for the faint of heart. When it comes to individual matchups, it will be interesting to see how Steve Kerr and Dave Joerger counter each other’s moves to either create or react to perceived mismatches. The Grizzlies are sure to place a heavy emphasis on getting the ball inside to Gasol and Randolph, and with their court general in Mike Conley questionable at best for Game 1 and beyond due to facial surgery, it’s obligatory that Memphis’ frontcourt has a very strong series if they hope to advance to the Western Conference Finals. For the Warriors, it will be business as usual. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson will shoulder the scoring burden, but the team’s overall success will be dependent on their ability to spread the ball around and create easy baskets for players throughout the lineup.

If there’s one advantage the Warriors have – other than their depth and the fact that Conley is injured - it lies at the three-point arc. While the Grizzlies seemingly have the advantage in the paint, the Dubs possess more than enough weapons to make up for it through perimeter scoring. The Warriors proficiency from three-point land is well documented, but it sticks out even more when compared to that of the Grizzlies, or lack thereof. In the regular season, the entire Memphis squad made 423 three-pointers; Stephen Curry (286) and Klay Thompson (239) combined for 525 by themselves. As for the first round of the playoffs, only 14.6 percent of the Grizzlies’ shots were threes, by far the lowest rate of all teams in the postseason. While Memphis doesn’t turn the ball over often, their ability to come back from large deficits is hampered by their inability to shoot the long ball. Should the Grizzlies find themselves trailing by a significant margin at any point, their three-point shortcomings could prove to be their ultimate undoing.

While their second round series will live on it’s own, it is worthwhile to point out these notes form the regular season series between the two clubs...

Take a further look at each of the 2014-15 regular season matchups between the Warriors and Grizzlies below:

December 16, 2014 | MEM 105-98 | FedExForum, Memphis
As they say, all good things must come to an end eventually. The Warriors franchise best 16-game win streak came to an end as they fell to the Grizzlies 105-98 in Memphis. Despite playing their third game in four nights without either Andrew Bogut or David Lee, the Dubs managed to keep things close all game long, but couldn’t get over the top. Klay Thompson led the team with 22 points and four three-pointers, while Stephen Curry notched 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The loss dropped the Warriors to 21-3 on the season, still the best record in the NBA.

March 27, 2015 | GSW 107-84 | FedExForum, Memphis
The Warriors won their eighth-consecutive game, defeating the Grizzlies in Memphis 107-84. Stephen Curry put on a dazzling display, scoring 38 points with eight three-pointers to go with 10 assists. Klay Thompson added 28 points and six treys as the Splash Brothers combined to go 14-of-21 from three-point range.

April 13, 2015 | GSW 111-107 | Oracle Arena, Oakland
The Warriors won their penultimate game of the season, earning a 111-107 home victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies. Klay Thompson was on fire with 37 points in the first half, including 26 in the second quarter alone. He finished the game with 42 points on 15-of-21 shooting, including 8-of-10 from three-point range before sitting out the entire fourth quarter. Stephen Curry recorded 15 points, eight assists and four rebounds, while Leandro Barbosa and Festus Ezeli each contributed nine points off the bench.

Coming off a 67-win regular season and a four-game sweep in the first round, the Warriors will look to continue to build upon their monumental year by advancing to the Western Conference Finals, but they’ll have to go through Memphis in order to do so. The Grizzlies, who put together a not-too-shabby 55-win regular season of their own, are likewise hoping to advance to the next round after making the Western Semifinals for the third time in five seasons. This series offers an extremely intriguing matchup of diverse styles and skill sets, and whichever side advances will undoubtedly have earned it.

Game 1 tips off on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at Oracle Arena. Throughout the series, make sure to tune into Warriors Playoff Central for the most updated information and behind-the-scenes coverage of the team's playoff journey.