Warriors Vs Grizzlies — Warriors rout Memphis 133-112 in injury-depleted matchup
The warriors vs grizzlies matchup in Memphis ended with Golden State rolling to a 133-112 victory on Wednesday night as Will Richard led the way with 21 points and the Warriors stretched a late fourth-quarter lead to 32.
Offense fires: eight players in double figures
Will Richard scored 21 points, Brandin Podziemski and Gary Payton II added 19 apiece, and Gui Santos had 17 as eight of the nine Golden State players who saw action reached double figures; the ninth, Malevy Leons, finished with nine points. The Warriors built a double-digit lead in the first half and pushed it to 63-39 after a 29-8 run midway through the second quarter en route to a 74-53 halftime cushion.
Warriors Vs Grizzlies: Memphis scorers and the late separation
G. G. Jackson finished with 24 points and eight rebounds for Memphis, Ty Jerome had 22 points and five assists, and Javon Small scored 16. The Warriors stretched the margin to 32 in the fourth quarter before coasting to the 133-112 final score in Memphis, Tenn.
Injuries forced strange lineups
Both teams arrived with heavy absences. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler were listed among Golden State’s unavailable players, while Ja Morant, Zach Edey and Cedric Coward were named among Memphis’s absences. De’Anthony Melton was also out for the Grizzlies on Wednesday night and scheduled to sit out the second half of a back-to-back for the visiting team; Al Horford, who missed Tuesday’s game, was set to return to the Warriors’ rotation.
One account listed Draymond Green and Kyle Anderson as questionable, while another called Green among those unavailable and said Kyle Anderson was declared out for personal reasons about an hour before game time.
Standings impact and league context
The Warriors were jockeying for postseason positioning, beginning the night slotted eighth in the Western Conference after a 113-109 loss in New Orleans on Tuesday night. The Grizzlies entered the game on a skid that began in late January, having dropped two straight and 12 of their last 15 games before Wednesday; the loss dropped Memphis into a tie for 12th place in the West with the idle Dallas Mavericks.
One assessment called Memphis part of a broader tanking trend that followed trades of core pieces like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. last year; that same account listed Santi Aldama, Brandon Clarke and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope among players the Grizzlies were holding out, and noted the former Warriors forward Kyle Anderson was also listed as questionable. The account also said Golden State’s hopes of escaping the Play-In Tournament had been largely dashed by Butler and Curry’s injuries, but added that a comparatively easy closing schedule could allow the Warriors to push for a sixth or seventh seed with a strong stretch.
What’s next
Memphis begins a three-game road trip in Dallas on Friday. Golden State’s immediate rotation notes included Al Horford returning after missing Tuesday’s game and De’Anthony Melton sitting out the second half of his team’s back-to-back; beyond that, specifics about future availability for Draymond Green and Kyle Anderson were unclear in the provided context.
