San Francisco – Bad officiating, frustration, and an irate Steve Kerr left many in stunned silence after the game. Despite the drama, the Dubs remain hot in the Emirates NBA Cup Tournament. Their second consecutive victory in Week 1 of the NBA Cup has propelled them to a 2-0 record in Group C. Tonight’s 123-118 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies further solidified their chances of earning a trip to Las Vegas next month.
“A lot. A whole lot, said Draymond Green when asked how important the NBA Cup is. “It’s an opportunity to win something, and any time you have an opportunity to win something, unless you lack competitiveness, it should matter. We want to compete and win everything, and the NBA Cup is one of them.”
Draymond Green played a pivotal role, tying his season high with three 3-pointers (a feat he has achieved three times this season). The Warriors are now an astounding 55-7 all-time in regular-season games when Green makes at least three 3-pointers, winning 15 of the last 16 such games. Notably, this marked Green’s fourth consecutive game with multiple 3-pointers, matching a career-high streak he has accomplished twice before.
However, Green’s night ended prematurely when he was ejected with 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter after receiving two technical fouls.
Following a postgame review, one of Green’s technical fouls has been upgraded to a flagrant 1. The incident occurred late in the fourth period when Green lost control of the ball and fell near rookie Zach Edey’s feet. Edey secured the ball for a steal but became entangled with Green, ultimately tripping over Green’s leg.
Golden State’s head coach, Steve Kerr, and Green both declined to comment on the officiating.
The Warriors’ reserves continue to shine, leading the NBA in scoring with an impressive 58.8 points per game. In a franchise first, Golden State’s bench has scored 40 or more points in 11 of their first 12 games. Tonight, the reserves contributed 67 points, marking the fifth time this season they have tallied 60-plus points in a game.
“That’s our team, that’s what we’re built on,” Kerr said. “We’ve got a lot of depth; we didn’t have to play Steph (Curry) in the fourth quarter. Which is fantastic, we’re trying to manage him through the season, and a night like tonight against a really good team, in a physical game, that matters.”
“We’ve had great teams with incredible depth, said Green. “Everyone coming off that bench is playing well for us. We need that, especially with a little bit of the injury bug. I’m very impressed with the bench, we’ve had guys here that can play. Then we signed very good players, and it’s showing in our wins.”
Stephen Curry recorded a season-high-tying four steals (11/6 at BOS). He also grabbed a team-high-tying eight rebounds. Buddy Hield led the Warriors in scoring with 18 points off the bench. It marked the sixth game this season he’s led the team in scoring and the eighth outing of 15-or-more points.
Kyle Anderson made his return to action after sitting out the previous game with a right neck spasm, contributing eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in 19 minutes off the bench.
De’Anthony Melton was unavailable for tonight’s game due to a left ACL sprain, while Lindy Waters III exited late in the second quarter with 1:58 remaining after suffering a left knee hyperextension. He did not return to the game.
“It was a weird game out there,” said Anderson. “I mean, I think to an extent we kind of played down to our competition – no disrespect to the Grizzlies, they’re a really good team – but I think obviously we could have played a little bit better, sloppy at times. I think we were all kind of fatigued out there, but we’ll just clean it up and be better Monday.”
“I think that we were doing pretty good until, like, the last three, four minutes when they started jumping the game up,” Hield explained. “Hats off to Memphis, they played great, they didn’t stop. But we got to do a better job of closing the game. I have to do a better job securing the ball, not turning the ball over too in crunch time. Some of those, I think I got fouled on, but the referee didn’t blow the whistle, so I got to move on to the next play.”
UP NEXT: The Warriors travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Monday, November 18 (7:30 p.m. PST), in the team’s first game at Intuit Dome.
Photo by GSW/Twitter
