MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After taking a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Grizzlies, the Warriors were preparing for what Klay Thompson referred to as a “physical night in the office” in Game 2.
“This will be the most physical game we’ll play all year under the circumstances, who we’re playing, on the road, they’re coming after us,” coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday after shootaround.
And they were right.
Tension from Game 1 clearly boiled over into Tuesday’s matchup, with the Grizzlies coming out swinging — literally.
Less than three minutes into the Grizzlies’ intense 106-101 victory, Dillon Brooks wound up and hit Gary Payton II in the head as the starting guard went for a layup. The contact sent Payton crashing to the ground where he landed directly on his left (shooting) arm, and the Warriors were furious.
“That wasn’t physical, that was dirty,” Kerr said during an in-game interview with TNT after the first quarter.
Brooks was ultimately assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected in the same matter Draymond Green was ejected two days prior.
Payton split a pair of free throws, giving the Warriors their first point of the game (the Grizzlies opened on a 8-0 run), and then went to the locker room. He was later ruled out for the remainder of the game with a left elbow injury and underwent an X-ray.
Green was injured less than 10 seconds later after Xavier Tillman elbowed him in the face contesting a rebound. The Warriors star went to the locker room to receive stitches on an eye cut and re-entered the game to start the second quarter. He finished with six points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
The hits didn’t stop coming as both teams played an extremely physical game, disrupting passing lanes, forcing turnovers and battling under the basket for rebounds. Bodies were crashing left and right throughout the game.
Late in the third quarter, Ja Morant was hit in the face. Tyus Jones passed the ball to the Grizzlies star to take the final shot of the quarter, but he sent it back, saying he couldn’t see out of his eye. Morant went to the locker room at the end of the third quarter. He came back for the fourth, where he took over the game, scoring 18 of his game-high 47 points.
After being down by 11 in the third, the Warriors were able to battle back and tie the game at 77 entering the fourth, during which neither team led by more than four until the final minute.
Morant sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining to give the Grizzlies a five-point advantage.
Wednesday was one of the Warriors’ worst perimeter shooting nights of the postseason, with Thompson especially struggling. They collectively shot 7-for-38 (18.4%) from 3-point range. Thompson needed 19 shots to get 12 points and he converted on only two of his 12 3-point attempts.
Stephen Curry led Warriors scorers with 27 points. He also had nine rebounds and eight assists. Meanwhile, Jordan Poole added 20 points off the bench, going 1-of-6 from deep.
The undersized Warriors were bracing for the Grizzlies to play with physicality, especially knowing that the young team thrives by forcing turnovers, scoring in transition and rebounding.
“You can’t let your guard down, you can’t let people run by you when the shot goes up, you can’t ball watch, you gotta find a body and do your job, box out,” Kerr said before the game. “If there’s a ball on the floor, you gotta go get it. They pride themselves on winning the hustle points, the hustle battle, they’ve done that all year long.”
The Warriors again won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Grizzlies 52-47, but it wasn’t enough.
The Grizzlies were able to even the series before it heads to San Francisco. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at Chase Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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