The NBA playoffs have given us some great series in the semifinal round. One of those series is the Golden State Warriors vs the Memphis Grizzlies. In Game 1 on Sunday afternoon, the Grizzlies jumped out to a hot start feeding off their home crowd. Memphis led by eight points after the first quarter and had a lead as large as 13 in the second quarter.
Then the referees got involved. On a layup attempt, Memphis’ Brandon Clarke was fouled hard by Golden State’s Draymond Green causing Clarke to take a hard fall.
In what was an inexplicable decision, the refs decided to eject Green from the game. Now the advantage in this game swung largely in Memphis’ favor.
Without Green, for the entire second half, the olden State Warriors rallied around their star veterans Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for leadership and the elite play of Jordan Poole to pull off the Game 1 victory.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Warriors Poised To Make NBA Finals Amid Jordan Poole Breakout?
“We were just determined,” Kerr said. “We were all kind of shocked by the decision. But we were confident and determined, and the guys stayed with it.”
Thompson hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 36.6 seconds left and Stephen Curry took over Draymond Green’s role of defensive stopper for one of the final Grizzlies possessions, shutting down Ja Morant.
Poole came off the bench and scored 31 points while adding nine assists and eight rebounds. Including 5-10 shooting from the three-point arc. What was most impressive by the Warriors was how they outrebounded a bigger Memphis team 51-47. It was a true team effort to hit the glass and limit the Memphis Grizzlies’ second chances.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Warriors Poised To Make NBA Finals Amid Jordan Poole Breakout?
The aforementioned Jordan Poole along with Andrew Wiggins, Otto Porter Jr., Gary Payton II, Kevon Looney, and Jonathan Kuminga all brought in at least six rebounds. Most teams would have laid down after an ejection of one of their best players. But, not the Golden State Warriors. They used the ejection as motivation and found a way to pull off a huge Game 1 victory.
“This is a huge game to win, especially with [Green] going out early,” Poole said. “You really have to find that grit and grind and buckle down and lock in offensively and defensively. He is such a big part of our team. … We were able to fill in for the energy he has.”
