The Memphis Grizzlies dropped their seventh game in a row, 79-86, failing to beat the Golden State Warriors Monday night. The loss leaves Memphis still winless for the season.
“We just didn’t do it. It was crunch time and we didn’t do it,” head coach Sidney Lowe said after the game. “They made some big shots. They made some big shots with our hands in their faces. I could see our guys try to tighten up on the defensive end.”
The Warriors rode the work of forward Danny Fortson as he scored 20 points to lead all scorers and pulled in 22 rebounds, also a game high. Fortson, as Memphis Tiger faithful will recall, once played for Memphis rival Cincinnati. Also contributing was the Warrior bench with guard Chris Mills scoring 17 points and guard Mookie Blaylock scoring 12.
Cedric Henderson, a former Memphis standout, sat the Warriors bench for the entire game and didn’t see any action despite returning back to his home town for the first time as a professional basketball player.
Memphis (0-7) held on to most of the game, and only trailed by three at the end of the third quarter with center Lorenzen Wright once again leading the way with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Four other Grizzlies balanced the attack with forward Pau Gasol scoring 16 points, guard Jason Williams scoring 13 points with 10 assists, forward Stromile Swift scoring 12 points, and forward Shane Battier (playing off guard) scoring 11 points with four steals.
However, despite the balance, no Grizzly could step forward in the fourth quarter to rally the team past Golden State (5-3). In the final period, Wright scored only two points, Williams only scored three, and Battier contributed all of one point, and missed a critical late game three that would have cut the lead to two with only seconds remaining.
Also, despite Wright’s 15 boards, the Warriors badly outrebounded the Grizzlies, 38-49, giving the Warriors valuable second chance shots while limiting the Grizzlies on the other end of the floor.
The Grizzlies take two days to return to the practice floor to try and find some way to pull out a win. The team plays again on Thursday night against the Portland Trailblazers at the Pyramid. The two teams split their preseason games with each home team winning.
