Tony Allen leads the Memphis Grizzlies past the Golden State Warriors for a 110 – 91 win
The Memphis Grizzlies overcame a lethargic first-half performance to hound the Golden State Warriors on defence and pull out a 110 – 91 win, here at the FedEx Forum in Memphis on Wednesday. Led by Tony Allen’s 10 points in the third quarter, the Grizzlies
stepped up the defensive intensity to force their opposition into committing turnovers, while shooting a season-best 56.5 percent to hand the Warriors their second loss in two nights.
Tony Allen finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three pivotal steals to give the Grizzlies (42 – 33) their first season with a winning record since 2005-06.
"The guy who has been playing very well over the last two weeks or so with his defense is Tony Allen in the passing lanes and going to the offensive glass.'' Golden State Coach Keith Smart said.
Golden State is second in the NBA in three-point shooting with a 39.4 percent average, but shot a dismal 28.6 percent on Wednesday night, in addition to failing their first six shot attempts. Thankfully though, they went on to rediscover their shooting touch
and recorded a 53.5 percentage in the first half. It was a different story in the final two quarters, as the suffocating defence by Memphis forced the Warriors into shooting just 40 percent.
Golden State’s tandem of guards, Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry failed to replicate their usual shooting prowess to record a combined 9-for-28 from the field. Vladimir Radmanovic went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to put up 11 points off the bench, while David
Lee also had a good shooting night to add 12 points and bring down 9 rebounds.
The Warriors had 15 turnovers while the Grizzlies recorded just five.
The Grizzlies failed to make a mark in the first half, as they did not crash the offensive boards and missed their first five shots. But they quickly bounced back, and found their rhythm to record a franchise-best seven game streak, where they shot 50 percent
or better from the field.
The Grizzlies stole the ball on 12 occasions in the third period to erase the Warriors’ 10 point lead, and turned the momentum in their favour. Memphis outscored the Warriors 31 – 19 during that stretch, and followed it up with a 15 - 3 run in the fourth
quarter to take a lead from which they never looked back.
Grizzlies guard, Tony Allen said, "We came out a little sluggish. It wasn't the best first half we had all year, but we stuck with it and we responded to coach's scolding at halftime. He said we need to get back to doing what we do and that's playing hard
at both ends. We were able to pull it out simply because we locked in at the defensive end and played at our pace.''
Memphis moved the ball around well to find its open shooters, posting 28 assists for the night.
Golden State tried to rally but the water-tight second-half showing by the Grizzlies did not allow a comeback.
Memphis crashed the painted-area whenever they pleased, to register a 76 – 50 advantage in points-in-the-paint.
Zach Randolph went 8-of-11 to post 20 points, 13 rebounds and six assists on the night. Mike Conley put up 20 points and dished out seven assists, while Darrell Arthur had 17 points and seven boards off the bench for Memphis.
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