The Warriors had this one in hand, then watched it slip away fast.
Golden State was up 106-94 with 3:47 left in its home opener before Memphis ripped off a 17-2 burst and walked out with a 111-108 win. The finish was as ugly as it was sudden: the Warriors missed their final nine shots from the field, Brandin Podziemski turned it over bringing the ball up, and Draymond Green was whistled for an illegal screen with 13 seconds left.
Stephen Curry finished with a team-high 24 points, but his closing stretch never caught fire. He came back into the game with 5:18 remaining and Golden State ahead by 11, then never scored again.
The Grizzlies kept coming, and Ty Jerome led all scorers with 28 points. Cameron Boozer delivered the biggest all-around line of the night with 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, then hit the go-ahead basket with 20 seconds left. Yaxel Lendeborg also stuffed the box score with 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
Curry’s late sequence told the story. His first miscue came when he fouled Jaylen Wells on a three-point attempt with 3:34 left.
Wells buried the shot and finished the four-point play, slicing the Warriors’ lead to eight. Soon after, Curry missed an open three he’s made hundreds of times.
That opened the door a little more. After Memphis trimmed the margin to four, Curry drove inside and got a lefty layup look over Zach Edey, but it came up short. Then, with the game down to a one-point difference, he tried a fadeaway three off a split-action play and Edey rejected it.
To be fair, the Warriors’ spacing on that possession was rough, and once Curry caught the ball drifting toward the sideline, there wasn’t much room to do anything else.
The final miss was the one that really stung. After Podziemski missed a wide-open three, Curry grabbed the offensive rebound near the baseline. He had room for a mid-range jumper, but instead backed into a tougher three-point try and missed.
This wasn’t a heavy workload night for Curry, either. He logged just 30 minutes and got solid scoring and playmaking support from Lendeborg, Podziemski and others. Still, for a player known for thriving in the biggest moments, this was a rare late-game miss-filled finish.
And the timing matters. It’s only the second game of the season, but the calendar now looks loaded with trouble. Golden State’s next four are at Phoenix on Saturday, at Denver on Monday, at Minnesota on Wednesday and then home against the Lakers on Friday.
Curry said after the game that he probably won’t play Saturday, and it isn’t clear who else will sit during the back-to-back. Even if Curry and Green suit up, road back-to-backs can wear on anybody.
Phoenix is first, then come the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Lakers - three teams that might all end up in the West’s top five. Given what’s coming, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Warriors come through this stretch 0-6.
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