PROGRAMMING ALERT: Warriors Pregame Live begins at 7 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, with the tipoff at 7:30 p.m., followed by Warriors Postgame Live.
The Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies seem to be heading inopposite directions. Golden State has lost two in a row and four of their pastsix. Meanwhile, Memphis has won six in a row, all without the injured ZachRandolph.
For the Warriors, this is Game No. 2 of a six-gamehomestand, and they are in the midst of a stretch having 10 home games in theirnext 12. In other words, if the Warriors are going to make something happen,now would seem to be the time for that happen.Here are some things to watch for:Interior defense: Since Kwame Brown wentdown with a torn right chest muscle, the Warriors interior defense has beeninconsistent. On some nights they struggle to defend bigger frontlines and onothers they get outrebounded. Even without Zach Randolph, the Grizzlies have alot of size up front with Marc Gasol, Marreese Speights and DanteCunningham.The Warriors need to find a way to neutralize Memphis upfront.Gay-Wright matchup: There are signs thatDorell Wright is beginning to come out of his early season funk. Hes beginningto make more 3-pointers, but the next step is on the defensive end, whereWright needs to make more of an impact.RELATED: Dorell Wright game logs
The key for Wright is to keep Gay on the perimeter and tryto prevent him from getting easy buckets. If Gay has a game in which hes avolume shootersay 20 or more shots at under 50 percentthat will bode wellfor Golden State.Ellis efficiency: Monta Ellis is shooting41.6 percent from the field, well below his career 46.7 career field goalshooting percentage. Against the Grizzlies, Ellis will likely find himselfopposite one of the leagues best perimeter defenders in Tony Allen. And thatsalways a challenge.Currys ankle: Stephen Curry returned tothe lineup on Friday after missing eight consecutive games with a sprainedright ankle. He seemed to gain more confidence in the ankle as that game wentalong.After a couple of off days, lets see if Curry can build onhis Friday return and regain his explosiveness and shooting touch.
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