Golden State Warriors Destroyed by Memphis Grizzlies, Finish Trip 2-2

Feb 8, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Tony Allen (9) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) during the game at the FedEx Forum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Golden State Warriors 99-93. Mandatory Credit: Spruce DerdenUSA TODAY Sports

Not exactly your storybook ending. On Saturday night, the Golden State Warriors were crushed by the Memphis Grizzlies 108-90. They now head home after a decent road trip at 2-2. They beat two of the hotter teams in the NBA, cooled off with an almost-win over San Antonio and ran out of gas as they were crushed by the Grizzlies. To add insult to injury, the Warriors are now tied with the Los Angeles Clippers, who have the tie-breaker.

Still early, yes, but exactly what the Warriors were hoping to get after looking so promising after the first couple of games.

After a hot first quarter, the Warriors and the Grizzlies were neck-a-neck with a score of 32-29. The reason this score is surprising is because the home team is one of the worst offensive units in the NBA. Still, they tallied 108 points, as opposed to one of the best offensive teams in the NBA, the Warriors, who tallied just 90. Both teams came out aggressive.

In the second quarter, the pace slowed down a bit, and Stephen Curry started to find his jump-shot. The other Splash Brother, however, was struggling because one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders in Tony Allen was stuck to him. The Dubs managed to score 21 points as opposed to the Grizzlies’ 22. They did dig a big hole for themselves, but came back right before halftime.

Everything went wrong for the Warriors in the second half. Despite the offensive life of Thompson, who made his first five shots, the Warriors were unable to find a solution for Mike Conley, as he had a hand in most of the Grizzlies’ points. They were outscored by 11 points in the quarter, which led to the Grizzlies’ big lead.

The fourth quarter was essentially “garbage time”. Mark Jackson found use for it and played some of the youngsters. The Grizzlies kept their starters in until the horn sounded. Odd, but that’s how it worked out.

Th Warriors have now fallen to 4-3, and have the same record as the Clippers, which means LAC owns the tie-breaker. Unfortunately for the Dubs, they had two tough teams to beat in the final two games of this trip. They now look forward to going home and playing the Detroit Pistons.