Monta Ellis carries the Golden State Warriors to a narrow 115-109 win over the Grizzlies
Golden State Warriors returned home Tuesday night to face the Memphis Grizzlies, aiming to improve on their excellent record at home against their opponents. The Warriors have got the better of the Memphis Grizzlies in the last
two home encounters and have won 6 out of 8 games at the Oracle Arena against them.
Both the teams were coming into the match on the back of two consecutive victories in their last encounters, before they were thumped by the Los Angeles Lakers. With both the franchises looking to return to winning ways, the match
was expected to be a dog fight and it lived up to its expectations as a 16,607 strong crowd witnessed a nail-biting match with the Warriors just edging out the Grizzlies by six points.
Keith Smart, the new coach for the Warriors wanted to give Monta Ellis a break prior to the match, but he will be thanking the heavens now that he did otherwise. Ellis took the Memphis defence apart scoring 39 points as the Warriors
edged the Grizzlies by 115-109. The phenomenal Golden State point-guard was instrumental in the Warriors’ win as he also chipped in with 9 rebounds and 8 assists. His assault was severely brutal in the fourth quarter where after sitting 4:48 minutes on the
bench, he came back with a bang to score 17 points down the stretch for the Warriors.
The first half started with neither team willing to let go of any advantage as they maintained parity right throughout. Monta Ellis was in the zone from the start as he shot 13 points in the quarter to lead the Warriors offense.
The first 12 minutes ended with the Warriors leading by a single point at 27-26.
The Warriors entered the second quarter on a more positive note. Radmanovic slipped in a 3-pointer followed by another one by Dorell Wright, as the Warriors sprinted to an 11-4 run within the first three minutes to wrest the initiative.
The Grizzlies tried hard to rally back in this period but the Warriors effectively denied every Memphis attempt, never allowing their opponents to cross a four point barrier. Wright finished the quarter in style with a pull up jump shot followed by a 3-pointer
as the Warriors gained crucial points to go into the break at 64-52.
Wright made another 3-pointer right at the start of the third quarter to extend the lead for the home team. With 18 points down 2 minutes after half time, the Grizzlies offense stepped up its pressure. They went all out, running
through the defences of the Warriors and outscored them 17-6 in the last five minutes, as the teams headed into the final quarter with the score nicely poised at 88-83, making it anybody’s game.
The Warriors started the quarter with a rather precarious lead of 5 points, but with an Ellis three-pointer extended their lead to 10 points at 99-89. The Grizzlies tried their level best to cut back on the Warriors’ lead, but
they always found Ellis in their way every time. g*y slipped in a 3-pointer to make it 113-109 with 29.9 seconds remaining but that was the closest that the Grizzlies got as Ellis made two free throws in the dying seconds to seal the match for the Warriors.
Besides the heroics of Ellis, Dorell Wright was also in the groove for the Warriors as he scored 25 points including seven 3-pointers. David Lee had 16 rebounds and complemented that with 15 points while Reggie William also netted
16 points and 8 assists.
Rudy g*y, the Memphis forward also played his heart out. He rallied hard for his team, but his 35 points were not enough for his Grizzlies to cross the line, as they go 2-3 down in the season. O.J. Mayo also netted 23 points with
5 assists, while Mike Conley also put in a sublime effort with 18 points and a career high 13 assists.
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