Warriors beat Grizzlies 101-86 in Game 1 of West semifinals

OAKLAND - There was a time when the Memphis Grizzlies owned the Warriors, beating Golden State 11 consecutive times between 2010 and 2013.

But as the Warriors have proved all year, and continue to demonstrate as they march toward the NBA Final, they are a radically different team under Steve Kerr.

Sunday at Oracle Arena, they toyed with the visiting Grizzlies for most of the afternoon and finally walked away with a 101-86 victory in Game 1 of this NBA Western Conference semifinal series. Everyone knows how tough Memphis can be inside, but the Warriors were fresher, quicker, deeper and more efficient, and they were never truly challenged.

So much for being rusty after a week-long layoff, the result of Golden State’s sweep of New Orleans in the first round.

“It’s kind of dangerous, because you have five or six days off, and you can kind of lull yourself to sleep,” Warriors center Andrew Bogut said. “But I think we were very professional. Coach Kerr’s practices were great. … But we didn’t want to get too comfortable, especially against Memphis, because if you have a game where you’re not shooting the ball well, they can punish you.”

Shooting was not a problem for the Warriors, who drained 65 percent of their shots in the first quarter while pushing to a seven-point lead, and finished at a healthy 50.6 percent.

The Grizzlies’ counter to Golden State’s long-distance prowess was supposed to be their inside muscle. Center Marc Gasol and power forward Zach Randolph remain the NBA’s premier combination of beef, and there was considerable interest in how the Warriors would defend them. The answer was to match up power forward Draymond Green on Gasol, put Bogut on Randolph and mix-and-match furiously when necessary.

Gasol wound up with 21 points and Randolph 20, but neither killed the Warriors. And much of the credit goes to backup bigs Marreese Speights, Festus Ezeli and even David Lee, who saw his first postseason minutes of 2015 after sitting out Round 1 with a back injury.

The key sequence might have come just after the halfway mark of the third quarter. Golden State was up 74-58 when Green swiped at a ball and picked up his fourth foul. Twenty-three seconds later, Bogut picked up his fourth while guarding Gasol in the lane.

The Warriors were cruising at the time, but this could have been Memphis’ opportunity to close the gap. Lee entered the game for Green, and Ezeli for Bogut. Ezeli swatted Randolph late in the third, delighting the crowd, and by the time Green returned at the 8:27 mark of the fourth quarter, Golden State’s lead was still at 16 points, 89-73. Bogut came back with 6:01 left and it was 94-79.

The reserves had held.

“Yeah, that was probably the biggest stretch of the game was when Draymond and Andrew both got their fourth,” Kerr said. “We had David come in for a few minutes, gave us some good run. He was active. He chased down a couple loose balls and rebounds, and his activity against Gasol was good, and then Festus as well. But that’s the luxury we have with our team. We have a lot of depth.”

The Grizzlies’ matchup challenges weren’t so easily solved. With starting point guard Mike Conley out with facial fractures, off guard Tony Allen, an excellent defender, had to toggle back and forth between Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Neither lit up the scoreboard - Curry had 22 points, Thompson 18 - but that’s because the Memphis defense overcompensated, leaving other Warriors open.

Green had 14 points for Golden State, Harrison Barnes added 11 and Speights 10.

The Warriors were particularly effective when they ran the ball, or at least got the Grizzlies’ defense spread out with crisp passes. Curry was deadly in early going, tossing an Alley-Oop to Bogut for a slam and going behind the back to Green at the 3-point line as Golden State built a first-quarter lead. Curry finished with seven assists.

“Z-Bo (Randolph) and Marc, they’ve held down the paint for years now, so we know that if we can continue to space those guys out, you can probably get some driving lanes and then all of a sudden you make the defense collapse and you kick out for open threes,” Green said. “… That’s always a key when you’re playing against these guys. You’re probably not gonna dominate them inside.”

As the game progressed, it was the Warriors who got to most of the 50-50 balls and converted the open looks.

Not that it was a perfect performance. Several Warriors noted the team’s sloppy play, citing 16 turnovers - a figure that Curry said could have been higher. And the fouls would have been a problem in a tighter game.

Still, with the defending-champion Spurs out of the playoffs, and teams like Memphis and Cleveland dealing with significant injuries, there is no denying that Golden State is the heavy favorite in 2015.

“There’s a lot less question marks,” Curry acknowledged. “Obviously, you look around the brackets, and down to four teams in the West, and that’s the challenge. It’s not to get too far ahead of yourself.”

OK, maybe just a little then: Game 2 is here on Tuesday night.