The start of this series was a spectacle and makes you want more: The Golden State Warriors have just defeated the Memphis Grizzlies after a real roller coaster ride.
There was a fight for every ball: Yes Morant has to do with Gary Payton II and Jordan Poole here.
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Warriors fans know how important Draymond Green is to their team. The fact that the versatile bundle of energy conceded an ejection after a foul before the half-time break and was therefore no longer available should have caused some concern.
But in the end there was a 117:116 away win for the “Dubs” at the Memphis Grizzlies, which after a flurry of emotions was only certain when Ja Morant was unable to get the home side’s last try in the basket.
Morant and Jackson crack the 30
And so the match winner was not Morant – the young star with the feather-light movement sequences and the enormous jumping ability only scraped past the triple-double with 34 points, nine rebounds and ten assists – and not his teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. (33, six three-pointers ) or Steph Curry (24 points, five threes). No, Golden States 22-year-old shooter Jordan Poole stepped up again and gave the Grizzlies a headache coming off the bench: In 38 minutes, the Michigan graduate sank twelve of his 20 shots (five three-pointers) for 31 points (career-best), with an additional eight boards, nine templates and two blocks.
The core of this team has Championship DNA and we want to use that.
The Warriors gambled away a ten-point lead in the last quarter, but regained the lead half a minute before the end with a three-pointer from Klay Thompson (15) and ultimately successfully defended it. Long faces from the Grizzlies fans. “A game lasts 48 minutes, you just have to find a way. We minimized our ball losses and found good throwing positions,” said Curry after game one. “The core of this team has Championship DNA and we want to capitalize on that. It’s an important win for us.”
Game two of the series will take place again in Memphis on Wednesday night (3:30 a.m. CEST). Four wins are needed to advance to the conference finals.
