The Warriors return home with another shot at making the NBA Playoffs when they host the Memphis Grizzlies for round two of the Play-In Tournament.
Warriors vs. Grizzlies Friday, May 21 6:00 p.m.Chase Center
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ONE LAST CHANCE AT THE PLAYOFFS
After Wednesday’s narrow defeat in Los Angels on Wednesday, the Warriors return home with another shot at making the NBA Playoffs when they host the Memphis Grizzlies for round two of the Play-In Tournament. This rematch of the final game of the regular season will have dire consequences: the winner will advance to the playoffs as the No. 8 seed while the loser is eliminated and their season is over. The Warriors won the regular season series between the two clubs at 2-1, capped off with a 46-point performance by Stephen Curry with three clutch splashes in the final minutes.
LAST TIME OUT
The Warriors and Lakers dueled through the final six minutes of Wednesday’s first round of the Play-In Tournament, but a LeBron James three-pointer followed by stout Lakers defense on the Warriors’ final possession forced the Dubs into a 103-100 loss. » Full Game Recap
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
PREVIOUS GAME'S STARTERS
GSW: Stephen Curry, Kent Bazemore, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney
MEM: Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Justin Jackson Jr. and Janos Valanciunas
INJURY & ROSTER NOTES
GSW: Damion Lee (Health and Safety Protocols), Kelly Oubre Jr. (left wrist injury), Klay Thompson (right Achilles surgery recovery) and James Wiseman (right knee meniscus tear) are out. Team Notes
MEM: TBD. Team Notes
CALLING IN THE REINFORCEMENTS
While it was Stephen Curry who put on a shooting display against the Grizzlies in the Warriors’ regular season finale, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole have also logged some of their best scoring performances of the season against Memphis. With Curry out of the lineup in these clubs’ back-to-back matchup Mar. 19-20, Wiggins posted a season-high 40-spot on the Grizzlies in their first game. Meanwhile, Poole notched himself 25 and 26-point nights, respectively, in the two-game set. Across all three regular season contests against Memphis, Wiggins averaged 27 points on 3.3 treys and nine rebounds per game while Poole has averaged 22.0 points with 3.0 splashes. For both Warriors, that is their high in scoring against any NBA team they have faced this season.
TEAM LEADERS
MEMPHIS SCOUTING REPORT
The Memphis Grizzlies extended their season following a 100-96 win over the Spurs on Wednesday to eliminate the Gregg Popovich-led team from playoff contention. Now they will face the Warriors for a fourth time in the 2020-21 campaign. In their matchup with the Dubs on Sunday, the Grizzlies went about their business exactly how they had through the regular season: they did most of their scoring in and around the paint, scratching 101 points on 40-for-92 (43.5 percent) on 2-point shooting while making just six 3-pointers through the game. Just because they do not focus on treys does not mean they can’t score in bunches though, as evidenced by the Grizzlies’ 28-9 run into the fourth quarter to turn that final game of the season into a down-to-the-wire thriller against the Dubs. While the Warriors did well to contain offensive threats in Dillon Brooks (18 points) and Ja Morant (16 points) in that contest, center Jonas Valanciunas caused a problem in the middle as he posted a 29-point, 16-rebound double-double.