Set aside the championship aspirations, Stephen Curry's MVP, a 67-win regular season, all that. The only thing the Golden State Warriors need to be thinking about right now is how the Memphis Grizzlies have dominated them and what they can do to turn that around.
NBA playoff scores 2015: The Warriors are in trouble
The Grizzlies are making Golden State play their style and that’s a problem for the Warriors.
The Warriors did make an inevitable fourth-quarter run and cut a 19-point lead to four, but Memphis hung on for a 99-89 win in Game 3. Suddenly, the best regular season team in basketball is down 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals with another game in the Memphis “Grindhouse” looming Monday.
The Grizzlies are in the Warriors’ heads and under their skin. They have Golden State spooked on offense and flustered on defense, forcing a team with the NBA’s best offense and pace to adhere to a slow, grinding style. What other explanation is there for the Warriors’ 11-of-44 shooting behind the arc their last two games? They’re still generating decent looks on offense, but timely shots aren’t falling and Memphis is forcing them into tons of turnovers.
In both of Memphis' wins, Tony Allen has terrorized Klay Thompson and several of his cohorts. Allen's best always seems to come out in the playoffs. Ricky O'Donnell wrote about Allen's impact in Game 2, and Allen was just as good Saturday, plugging every hole and preventing Golden State from sustaining any semblance of rhythm.
The biggest question coming into this series was which team would have to adjust its style. The Grizzlies play slow and hardly ever shoot three-pointers, at least by normal NBA standards. The Warriors shatter the idea of "normal NBA standards" when it comes to hoisting long balls, while running as often as possible. The focal point of these opposing styles was at power forward: Could the bruising Zach Randolph overpower Draymond Green, or would Green's speed force Randolph to make an early substitution?
Score it for Randolph, who has combined for 44 points on 16-of-31 shooting, 15 rebounds and seven assists in the last two games. He’s punishing the Warriors for playing small-ball in the post, and has some people clamoring for Golden State to counter with the little-used David Lee. Maybe Lee can make an difference -- and if he does, it’s a testament to how versatile this Warriors team is -- but it’s still playing directly into the Grizzlies’ hands. Memphis has one style of basketball. They know that eventually its opponent will flinch.
Golden State is on the verge of flinching, and that’s why its season is in serious jeopardy.
3 other things we learned
THIS is why Paul Pierce is a Wizard. To hit falling, fading, step-back jumpers that bank off glass to beat Atlanta. It shouldn't have been a tie game and Washington shouldn't have blown its 21-point lead with less than eight minutes to play, but it doesn't matter now, not after Pierce's shot. That's why you sign a 37-year-old master troll, because he still has just enough juice to win a few playoff games.
Stephen Curry got the MVP curse. Obviously, that’s why he has shot 38 percent in his last two games since he received the award, in addition to knocking down just four of his 21 three-point attempts. Golden State puts a lot on his shoulders, which has won him accolades, but the Warriors struggle when he can’t handle the weight. Sometimes, Curry is due for a bad shooting game or two, and so far in this series the Warriors haven’t had a fall-back option during those off nights.
Jeff Teague has gone to the wayside, and he's taken Atlanta's offense with him. If you think Curry's having a down series, don't look over at the Hawks' starting point guard. Teague is shooting 29 percent through the first three games against Washington, and was a sub-40 percent shooter against Brooklyn in the first round, too. He's not getting to the line quite as often, and his three-point shooting is down from the regular season -- a general ineffectiveness that correlates with Atlanta's offensive struggles.
All of a sudden, both 60-win teams from the regular season are down in their series and will have to claw their way out to advance. Maybe they both caught the same malady that is draining the life force of their starting point guards and causing the offenses to suffer. All they can hope is that it’s not terminal and these teams will be back to their regular season selves in the coming games.
Play of the Night
He called game.
3 fun things
Stephen Curry had no shame signing this mean sign.
ALL THINGS PAUL PIERCE: When asked if he called bank, he has THE COOLEST response ever. In fact, you can already buy T-shirts with that quote on it. Oh, and here’s Pierce teaching Dennis Schröder to respect his elders. We should also note Pierce’s shot came about a half hour after Washington D.C.‘s baseball team had a walkoff home run against the Atlanta Braves.
Final scores
Washington Wizards 103, Atlanta Hawks 101 (Bullets Forever recap | Peachtree Hoops recap | SB Nation recap)
Memphis Grizzlies 99, Golden State Warriors 89 (Grizzly Bear Blues recap | Golden State of Mind recap | SB Nation recap)
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