Grizzlies at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are clicking again at the right time and can take another step toward securing the top seed in the Western Conference when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. A six-game winning streak, including Friday's 114-100 win over Sacramento, has given the Warriors a 2 1/2-game lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the race for first place with 10 games to play - seven of which come at home - entering Saturday.
They handed out 37 assists in the most recent victory, displaying the ball movement so key to the league's top offense. "That's when we're at our best, when the ball's hopping and everybody gets involved," All-Star Stephen Curry told the media. "Thirty-seven assists ... that's pretty crazy considering we missed 21 3s. That's how we create good-to-great shots, with our ball movement." The Grizzlies handed the Warriors one of their four home losses this season with an overtime triumph at Oracle Arena on Jan. 6, but are a rather pedestrian 17-16 ever since and have dropped the first two of a four-game road trip. Mike Conley led Memphis with 22 points in a 97-90 loss at San Antonio on Thursday, which leaves the Grizzlies 1 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City for sixth place in the West.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (40-32): Conley is averaging 22.1 points since the All-Star break while center Marc Gasol has hit a bit of a scoring rut, averaging 15.7 - more than four points below his season mark - this month while totaling 23 in the back-to-back losses. "Teams are doing a lot to take him out," coach David Fizdale told reporters after the loss to the Spurs. "They did a great job with their switching. They brought their whole weak side in to help the guy that switched on to him. They passed him off." Conley and Gasol combined for 50 points in the win at Golden State earlier this season and Conley is averaging 23.5 and 10.5 assists in his two meetings with the Warriors.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (58-14): While Golden State heats up, superstar forward Kevin Durant nears a return from a knee injury and will accompany the team on its upcoming trip to Houston and San Antonio before being reevaluated Wednesday. Curry has snapped out of a recent slump and is shooting 28-for-60 from 3-point range during the winning streak, all after sitting out a loss to San Antonio on March 11 to get some rest. Fellow sharpshooter Klay Thompson struggled in a 3-for-14 effort Friday night but forward Draymond Green picked up the slack with a season-high 23 points.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Golden State leads the NBA by a wide margin in shooting (49.3 percent), while Memphis ranks last (43.4).
2. Green had 11 rebounds, 10 assists, a franchise-record 10 steals and five blocked shots in a 122-107 win at Memphis last month.
3. With a victory, the Grizzlies would claim the season series for the first time since 2012-13.