.png){kind=small}
*Photo via EPA
As the first quarter of Game 5 ended, Stephen Curry remained on the floor raising his arms to the roaring Golden State crowd. The Golden State Warriors had finished the quarter with a furious flurry and they wouldn’t let up the entire game. With the Grizzlies, mainly Zach Randolph, owning the first part of the quarter the Grizzlies had displayed their dominance early but quite clearly that didn’t last.
While the Grizzlies looked to set the tone early and establish their presence on the game, as they did in the series second game via Mike Conley, the Warriors had other thoughts. After the Z-Bo’s incredible start, the Grizzlies slipped from their style and Golden State caught fire through fast break opportunities.
This quarter is indicative of what both teams have done and would love to do to finish the series: make their imprint and control the tempo.
The most important thing in this series, for both teams, is to play their game. This may seem obvious, but with such opposing styles of play a slight diversion from their game plan can result in extreme consequences.
This is particularly true for the Grizzlies. As I am watching Game 5 so many Warrior points have come as a result of poor Memphis possessions in which either the ball does not touch one of their bigs’ hands, they settle for a jump shot, or they miss inside buckets. The first quarter started with the Zach Randolph show, but as the Warriors were able to pressure the Grizzlies into uncharacteristic shots, the Warriors turned poor Memphis possessions to buckets of their own. Cutting down the turnovers, the Warriors were able to get opportunities in rhythm.
The question now is what can the Grizzlies do to slow down the Warriors? This is a tantalizingly easy question to answer, but for obvious reasons (the reigning MVP on the opposing team) harder to execute. We can look at both Grizzlies wins in which they held the Warriors to 90 and 89 points, respectively.
In their two wins, one at Oakland Coliseum and the other at the Grindhouse, the Grizzlies applied tremendous pressure on Curry and Klay Thompson. Their swarming defense caused the Warriors to commit 37 turnovers and pressured the Warriors to take out-of-rhythm shots. While the guards will get their looks, both Conley and Tony Allen were able to hinder their ability to get good look offs and more importantly make plays.
While most of the world sees Curry and Thompson’s incredible shooting performances it’s their play-making ability (particularly Curry’s) that makes their offense so lethal. So often the Warriors will score from a Curry hockey assist (the pass before a literal assist) but it’s often overlooked in the grand scheme. The Grizzlies were effective in slowing down Golden State in their two wins because of their continuous pressure on the Splash Brothers and overall swarming team defense (this includes little things like going over a screen instead of under in order to disrupt a rhythm shot which we did not see in game 5).
Moreover, to control the tempo of the game the Grizzlies need to find THEIR offensive flow. In Game 5 we saw the Grizzlies play into the Warriors fast paced game. As mentioned above, this resulted in poor jump shots and threes, shots early in the shot clock, and on some possessions when the ball never touched Marc Gasol’s of Randolph’s hands.
It is vital for the Grizzlies offense to run through their big men because they are their playmakers (as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are the Warriors’). Once the ball touches their hands the defense must react, either by a double team or allowing them to go one-on-one. Both are beneficial for the Grizzlies: a double team allows two of the leagues best passing big men to find an open man and a one-on-one situation allows them to punish their defender.
Also, ball movement into the post allows the Grizzlies to slow down the game, using the entire shot clock. When Memphis takes quality looks late in the shot clock it allows them to get back, miss or make, and defend their end of the court from the Warriors lethal fast break and quick ball movement.
Game 6 hinges largely on the return of Tony Allen. If Allen is back in the lineup, expect a big Memphis win in front of a raucous Grindhouse crowd. If Allen is unable return I still expect a highly competitive game, but I wouldn’t be willing to wager my money on Memphis.
Game 6 is Friday, May 3 at 9:30 ET on ESPN.