The Memphis Grizzlies come up short against the Golden State Warriors in their second-consecutive loss. With a final score of 121-113, the Grizzlies finished their five-game road trip at 2-3 and fell from from second- to third-place in the Western Conference.
Golden State was missing its star guard, Steph Curry, and backup guard, Gary Payton II.
The list of players on the injury report for Memphis was much longer: Ja Morant, Marcus Smart, Santi Aldama, Luke Kennard, John Konchar, Yuki Kawamura, Vince Williams Jr., and GG Jackson II.
Kennard and Konchar were game-time decisions previously listed as doubtful and questionable. Desmond Bane was also previously listed as questionable, but he was able to play.
Turnovers and poor three-point shooting kept the Grizzlies just out of reach of the Warriors throughout most of the game, with Memphis never holding more than a two-point lead.
Every Grizzlies’ player aside from Brandon Clarke and Cam Spencer committed at least one live-ball turnover, with Bane committing a game-high eight turnovers. All in all, Memphis had 23 turnovers that converted to 28 points for Golden State.
The Warriors outshot the Grizzlies 53.5% (23 of 43) to 33.3% (9 of 27) from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies did have a 64 (32 of 49) to 32 (16 of 30) advantage in the paint, but it was not enough to overcome such a large disparity in three-point shooting.
Memphis won the free throw battle 75% (12 of 16) to 62.5% (10 of 16). Both teams had a total of 18 fouls, with Desmond Bane, Dennis Schroder, and Draymond Green all earning technical fouls. Green’s technical foul came less than a minute after he committed a flagrant foul against Zach Edey in the fourth quarter.
By The Numbers:
Jaren Jackson Jr. led with a team-high 23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.
Desmond Bane finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block, in addition to 8 turnovers.
Scottie Pippen Jr. put up 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block on 4 of 9 overall shooting and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
Jaylen Wells added 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
From the second unit:
Jake LaRavia led with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 10 assists on 5 of 8 overall shooting and 1 of 2 from three-point range.
Brandon Clarke added 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 5 of 7 overall.
Jay Huff added 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 3 of 4 shooting from beyond the arc.
Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will return home to FedExForum on Monday, January 6th, to face off against the Dallas Mavericks in their first home game of 2025.
These two Southwest division rivals last met in Dallas during group play of the in-season tournament in December, when the Mavericks defeated the Grizzlies and advanced to the second round.
Tip-off is at 7 PM CST.
