Warriors Vs Grizzlies: Balanced Road Rout Sees Will Richard Deliver Career Night in 133-112 Win

The warriors vs grizzlies matchup on Wednesday night ended in a decisive 133-112 victory for Golden State, a dominant and balanced performance that mattered because it came on the road on the back end of a back-to-back and with multiple starters out. The win stood out as the most balanced attack of the entire season: only nine players were available, all nine played significant roles, and the club crushed the admittedly tanking Memphis Grizzlies.

Warriors Vs Grizzlies — Player grades and the nine-man effort

Coaching staff used a nine-player rotation and graded each performance against expectations; a "B" grade represented an average performance for each player. Every one of those nine players contributed, producing the balanced output that turned a difficult travel situation into a convincing road victory.

Injuries and absences that reshaped the rotation

Golden State played without Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler III, De’Anthony Melton, and Kristaps Porziņģis. Those absences forced the team into a shortened bench and created the opportunity for the nine available players to take on outsized roles on both ends of the floor.

Efficiency and context: true-shooting and what it meant

True-shooting percentage (TS) — a scoring-efficiency metric that accounts for threes and free throws — helps explain how the Warriors maximized this limited roster. Entering Wednesday’s games, league-average TS was 57. 9%, and several players on this night well exceeded that mark, driving the lop-sided final score.

Player-by-player highlights: Moody, Santos, Horford and Will Richard

Moody: 28 minutes, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 4-for-7 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, 3-for-3 free throws, 84. 1% TS, +6. Moody did not particularly stand out but played quite well; his defense was solid and he kept the ball moving. There was a note that he could be more aggressive attacking the glass and pushing in transition, but his defensive work and elite efficiency were valuable.

Santos: 26 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 6-for-7 shooting, 1-for-2 threes, 4-for-4 free throws, 97. 0% TS, +21. Santos scored 17 points while missing only one shot all night. His defense was exceptionally active—disrupting perimeter passes, interfering with cutters in the lane, and contesting shots in the paint. The performance suggested Gui Santos is turning into a high-quality role player.

Horford: 27 minutes, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 foul, 4-for-10 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 50. 0% TS, +12. Horford acted as the elder statesman on this roster, especially with Curry, Green, and Butler out. He calmed the team on offense and defense, and his defensive presence and rebounding were superb despite a middling scoring efficiency.

Will Richard: 30 minutes, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 9-for-15 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, 1-for-1 free throws, 68. 0% TS, +6. Richard did not attempt a single shot on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he led the team in scoring in what amounted to a career game. It was a masterclass in playing the right way: many of his buckets came from perfectly timed cuts or from beating opponents in transition after creating turnovers.

• Richard's made shots, in order: a corner three off a pass from Brandin Podziemski (slid into the passing lane), a corner three off a pass from Santos (slid into the passing lane), a layup after diving from the top of the arc on a Podziemski pass, an and-one layup after cutting from the corner on a pass from Malevy Leons, an uncontested transition dunk after knocking the ball away on defense and sprinting downcourt, and a transition layup after a steal and beating everyone down the court.

What this win signals and the immediate outlook

The win was notable because it combined roster adversity (five absences) with efficient, team-oriented scoring across a compressed rotation. The balanced attack and strong individual efficiency numbers indicate the available players filled roles effectively, producing a lopsided final score in a challenging travel spot. Recent coverage framed the performance as the most balanced the team has had this season, and with nine players stepping up, the grading exercise underlines where the team found value on both ends of the floor.

Notes and caveats

The Grizzlies were described as admittedly tanking in the context of this game, which factors into how the victory and individual performances are evaluated. The nine-player availability and the attendant grades were judged against expectations for each player, with the benchmarks and TS context noted above.