By Matthew Harrington
One streak came to an end while another continued on strong in after 88-81 overtime defeat for the Golden State Warriors at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies (7-5) Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. With Stephen Curry sitting due to what is being termed a concussion, the Warriors were handed their first loss in six homes games this season, continuing a string of 11-straight losses to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Klay Thompson dropped a game-high tying 21 points on 9 of 19 shooting, while David Lee added 18 points on 9 field goals in 17 attempts. Andre Iguodala notched 14 assists in Curry’s absence. Zach Randolph scored 21 points to tie Thompson for the game best while pulling down 12 rebounds, most by any side Wednesday night. Marc Gasol also nabbed a double-double on 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Warriors (8-4) raced out to a 26-16 lead and held a ten-point lead at the midway point for a 44-34 halftime score. Memphis outscored Golden State 25-13 in the third quarter to take a two-point 59-57 lead in to the fourth.
The wild fourth quarter saw the Warriors storm back from an early six-point deficit to chisel away at a 63-57. Thompson capped the comeback with a 3-pointer with 7:20 left to give Golden State the 68-66 lead. From there, the lead would change four more times before the quarter ended in a 75-75 deadlock.
Memphis controlled the overtime session, outscoring the Warriors 13-6. Mike Conley had five points in the extra frame and Tayshaun Prince added a pair of daggers on two contested desperation jump shots that hit their mark.
The Warriors coughed up 14 turnovers to Memphis’ 6. Golden State was limited to only 4 fast break points, struggling without the normal starting point guard against a stout Grizzlies defense.
Another Warrior went down with injury as Ognjen Kuzmic injured his right arm on the backboard during the first quarter. He now joins Toney Douglas, Jermaine O’Neal and Stephen Curry as wounded Warriors.
Golden State travels to Los Angeles to face the Lakers Friday night in a rematch of the opening night 100-95 victory. Tip-off is at 7:30 pm.
