The Dubs got manhandled Tuesday night, and we’re not just talking about Tony Allen’s staunch defense. Golden State shot poorly, sure, but they were just off-key enough, all the people — some right here at UPROXX — who think the Grizzlies have their number, are probably premature on that assessment. But it’s not really a series until a team loses at home, and now a team has lost at home.
Still, this was just the second regulation game the Dubs have lost at Oracle this season; San Antonio was the other, and their second regular-season loss at home came in overtime.
But rather than recount Golden State’s poor shooting, just 41.9 percent from the field (they averaged 47.8 in the regular season, best in the NBA), and 23.1 percent from three (39.8, again best in the NBA); sloppiness with the ball, 20 turnovers (they averaged 16.5, good for 18th in the NBA — they make some boneheaded passes even at their peak); and inability to share the ball with just 16 dimes (they led the league in assists with 27.4 per game), we thought we’d give you three plays that best exemplify their pedestrian performance:
The first two came on the same possession in the second quarter and both feature shot attempts by Klay Thompson. Now we don’t want to pick on Klay, since the whole team struggled — his back-court brother was 7-of-19 from the floor, but just 2-for-11 beyond the arc — but this possession featured two of the most godawful shot attempts we’ve ever seen. They’re also from opposite spots on the court.
Thompson started this possession from hell by going around a high Andrew Bogut screen and casually flipping up a three-pointer off one foot.
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This ain’t H-O-R-S-E, Klay, you can probably get a better look, or at least plant your feet; such is the fear Tony Allen inspires, Klay just wanted to get a shot up. But the basketball Gods weren’t done punishing him on this possession just yet.
After an offensive rebound on the one-footed three ended up in Andrew Bogut’s hands, Klay cut backdoor for what looked like an easy dunk. Except, as he attempted to throw down the reverse, it jangled off the rim, Memphis ball.
This is just one possession, and missed dunks happen to even the best players. Klay is accurate enough from beyond the arc, a three-pointer off one leg isn’t that ridiculous, though we’re sure Steve Kerr is going to run that sequence back for Klay before they travel to Memphis for Game 3. But the last play we’ll show, a fast break after Shaun Livingston intercepted a Mike Conley pass, looked like a dreary pickup game.
Livingston takes the pass and sprints the other way with Steph to his right. First, Steph doesn’t really take a wide enough angle since Livingston cross over to his right to avoid Courtney Lee — the sole defender back. Instead of collecting Livingston’s flipped pass, Curry just sends it right back to Livingston even though Klay Thompson is wide open as a trailer. Livingston isn’t expecting the return pass, briefly bungles the catch while going airborne and then lands while still holding the ball, invoking a traveling violation.
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So, so bad. That fast break was so vile, it wasn’t hard to foresee a Dubs loss. This is the NBA Playoffs. If the Dubs come out like this again in Game 3, NBA Twitter will explode with questions about what’s wrong, Kerr will get some heat for the first time as a head coach (he’s already getting it for going small — with Barnes as the PF — too long last night to climb back into the game), and people will start grousing James Harden deserved the MVP award.
This is life as a favorite, so get used to it Golden State. You can’t come out with weak sauce like you displayed Tuesday night and expect a Grizzlies team — who has never cared how good their playoff opponents were in the regular season — to roll over.
