One of Golden State Warriors’ 13 defeats in the season happened at Memphis Grizzlies in December. On Saturday morning, the league leading Warriors return to Memphis aiming to redeem from a loss that stopped their 16-game winning streak.
This is a matchup of the Western Conference’s top teams.
Back in December, few expected the Grizzlies would stop a high-flying Golden State.
But that was just an indication of both teams competitiveness.
At the time the Grizzlies edged out the Warriors 105-98, but not before Warriors first-year coach and swingman Andre Iguodala received controversial technical fouls later in the contest.
Steven Kerr said after the loss: “They punched us in the mouth to start the second quarter, and that was the difference in the game.”
Little has changed since then as both the Warriors and Grizzlies are currently the only Western Conference teams with a playoff spot.
And, the Grizzlies are the only team Golden State has not beaten this season
While the Warriors, who have won their last seven games, top the league with a convincing 58-13 record, the Grizzlies (50-22) come second in the West with just ten regular-season games left.
The Warriors head to Memphis after their 58th win of the season, which resulted from their best shooting night in over a decade.
In Tuesday’s 122-108 victory at Portland Trail Blazers, the Warriors shot 60.2percent (50-83) from the field, including 46.2percent (12-26) from three and 90.9percent (10-11) from the line.
On the other hand, the Grizzlies, who have won 6 of their last 10 games, conceded a 111-89 home defeat against the Cleveland Cavaliers before hosting the Warriors.
Warriors centre Andrew Bogut says the Grizzlies are difficult for anyone in the league.
“It’s no secret how they get wins. They beat you up inside. They rebound very well. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They generally take good shots and try to play in the 80s and 90s,” said the Australian who is set to help the Warriors to get one more win to match their franchise record of 59 in a season.
MVP candidate Stephen Curry leads the Warriors in scoring with 23.4 points per game, and Memphis coach Dave Joerger is aware of how dangerous Curry could be: “You can get after him and after him, and that one second you let your guard down he can let it go.”
Golden State will host Memphis on 13 April in the last meeting between the two sides.
