Warriors at Grizzlies
The Golden State Warriors' latest winning streak reached four straight on Thursday, but the team started to show signs of slippage in the second half and coach Steve Kerr is trying to make sure that doesn't fester. The Warriors will try to put together a complete 48 minutes when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies in the third stop of a five-game road trip on Saturday.
Golden State jumped out to a 35-17 lead at the end of the first quarter and cruised into the break with a 65-46 lead before scrambling to earn a 106-99 win over the Utah Jazz. "A loss of focus," Kerr explained to reporters. "You know, our first quarter was great - pushed the ball, our defensive intensity was fantastic - and then I think we let down. We started turning it over. Some careless, purposeless plays where we really didn't have an idea of what we were trying to accomplish." The Grizzlies lost point guard Mike Conley to a back fracture but somehow keep gritting their way to victories. Memphis held the Portland Trail Blazers to 30.5 percent shooting in an 88-86 triumph on Thursday to push its winning streak to five straight, with each of the wins coming by five or fewer points.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (20-3): Golden State managed to build up its NBA-best record despite occasional shooting slumps from star guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry went 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in Wednesday's 115-98 win at the Los Angeles Clippers and Thompson, who set an NBA record with 60 points in 29 minutes in a 142-106 win over Indiana on Monday, went 0-of-4 from 3-point range on Wednesday and sat in favor of backup Ian Clark for part of the fourth quarter. "I just thought Ian was playing well," Kerr told reporters. "And he was really getting after it defensively and it made sense to keep him out there."
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (16-8): Memphis is without two max-contract players in Conley and small forward Chandler Parsons (knee), but fellow max player Marc Gasol is picking up the slack. Gasol poured on 36 points on 13-of-24 shooting on Thursday and is averaging 26.8 points and 7.4 rebounds in the last five contests. "It's just guys looking for me more, regardless of whether (the ball) goes in or out," Gasol told reporters. "Taking some questionable shots for my liking. That's where we are right now. ... We've got to find ways to have a better flow and the ball moves better from one side to the other where you create shots for other guys that are easier shots."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Grizzlies PG Andrew Harrison is starting in place of Conley and is 8-of-41 from the floor over the last four games.
2. Warriors F Draymond Green suffered an ankle injury on Thursday but returned to the game and finished two assists shy of a triple-double.
3. Golden State swept the four-game series last season, including a 119-69 thrashing at home on Nov. 2, 2015.