Though the Memphis Grizzlies are the less-experienced squad, the Golden State Warriors can not afford any mental lapses in their second round matchup with the young, hungry Grizz.
Memphis showed a lot of things in round one. While it is easy to point to their struggles against Minnesota as a reason to feel confident in the Warriors, we can not overlook the Grizzlies’ ability to rally from behind.
The Wolves led by double digits in five of six games against Memphis. But, it didn’t quite matter, as the Grizzlies showed no quit in them. Their ability to lock in defensively and score in a hurry makes the Grizz a team the Dubs should fear.
More specifically, the Grizzlies can pinpoint one of the Dubs’ greatest weaknesses: turnovers.
The Golden State Warriors will have to focus on the mental aspect of their battle against Memphis in order to emerge victoriously.
Mental errors have always been a stain on the Warriors’ legacy. While they have almost always been talented enough to overcome this weakness, turnovers remain their Achilles heel.
This is bad news for the Dubs as they enter round two against Memphis. Why? Well, the Grizzlies excel at forcing turnovers. And not just any turnovers, live-ball turnovers that lead directly to fastbreaks.
Memphis ranked first in steals during the regular season with nearly 20% of their entire offense being generated by points off turnovers.
The Warriors committed the second-most turnovers this season. More concerning, the Warriors had multiple instances of taking their foot off the gas throughout the regular season. As we know, this is something you can not afford to do against Memphis.
With a Grizzlies team that is defiant until the end going against a Warriors team still searching for championship-level consistency, it appears Golden State could be put to the ultimate test sooner rather than later.
The good news? A sharp series against the Grizzlies would be a strong indicator of what’s to come for this team.