- Programming Note: Tune into "Warriors Pregame Live" at 6 p.m. PT on Tuesday on NBC Sports Bay Area before the Warriors and Grizzlies tip-off. Immediately after the final buzzer, tune back in for "Warriors Postgame Live."
Though the Warriors would like to forget the events of May 21, 2021, they would be wise to remember every ugly minute when they take the floor Tuesday night.
They’re facing the same team, Memphis. At the same location, Chase Center. Under the similar circumstances, the NBA Play-In Tournament.
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The previous such occasion was a disaster, the Warriors losing in overtime under a flood of turnovers and 35 points from Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant.
Morant will be back in Golden State’s face this time around, and containing him will be a priority. Coverage on NBC Sports Bay Area begins at 6 p.m. with "Warriors Pregame Live," with "Warriors Postgame Live" immediately following the TNT telecast. Tipoff is scheduled for 7.
The Warriors dropped into the play-in tournament Sunday after a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, whose point guard, James Harden, exploited a rotation of defenders and finished with a game-high 39 points.
Morant isn’t the offensive conductor that Harden is, but he’s appreciably shiftier and more explosive. With Moses Moody (back spasms) listed as questionable, keeping Morant in check will require the best of Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II. That group was unsuccessful Sunday.
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“He's an All Star; he's going to score points,” Podziemski told reporters Tuesday morning after shootaround. “But the things that help him get into a rhythm are the things you try to take away. That's with any great player, but free throws and transition are where he scores a lot of his points. You try to take one or one or both of those away and it gives us good chance.”
If Morant is having his way against that tag-team duo or trio, it is conceivable that coach Steve Kerr would turn to uber-athletic wing Jonathan Kuminga, who was banished from Golden State’s rotation against the Clippers.
Neither Payton nor Kuminga was available two weeks ago in Memphis, where Morant dropped 36 points, on 14-of-22 shooting from the field, including 5-of-8 from distance. The Warriors pulled out a 134-125 victory behind 52 points from Stephen Curry.
An important development in that win was Golden State’s fourth-quarter defense. The Grizzlies scored 112 points through three quarters but managed only 22 in the fourth, as the Warriors forced Morant into four turnovers, with two steals by Jimmy Butler III and one steal each by Draymond Green and Buddy Hield.
There are other factors in play, most significant being rebounding. The Warriors, the league’s No. 3 rebounding team through the first four months, tumbled to 14th after the All-Star break – coinciding with Kerr’s mostly rewarding commitment to a small starting lineup. Memphis is a strong rebounding team, No. 2 this season and sixth since the break.
But the top goal for the Warriors is to avoid turnovers and prevent Morant from getting into a rhythm, much less taking over the game as he did four years ago.