The Golden State Warriors may have lost Game 2, but they still won home-court advantage by splitting the first two games in Memphis. With that in mind, the Warriors did not play their best game, which should change in the near future.
The Warriors were off in many key metrics, and two-time MVP Stephen Curry has yet to truly get going offensively despite leading the team in scoring with 27 points. Curry ended the game just 11-for-25 from the field and 3-for-11 from deep.
The Golden State Warriors lost Game 2 106-101. The series is now knotted up at 1 game apiece, and there’s no reason to worry for Warriors fans.
Couple that with Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson also struggling to find their rhythm in Game 2, and I expect the series to shift moving forward as the Dubs improve their play at the Chase Center Golden State had the second-best home record in the NBA this season.
Now, the Grizzlies did have the 6th-ranked defense in the NBA to end the season, and that’s important to note. However, the Warriors’ core has played far better defenses and have been able to generate open looks.
This Dubs team shooting 7-for-38 from deep is unacceptable. What’s even more shocking than that is they continue to win the battle on the boards, having 2 more offensive rebounds than Memphis and 5 more rebounds in total.
One fear that many did predict was a strong advantage for Memphis coming into the series was turnovers. The Warriors had 18 in Game 2, losing that key metric by 6 after having just 1 more than Memphis in Game 1.
They’ll need to clean that up as well.
The Warriors have the No. 1 defensive rating this season at home, where they’ll play the next two games. They also have the league’s best assist rate at home. In their first-round series, they clobbered Denver in their first two home games then closed the series out at home in Game 5.
Considering their dominance at home and poor shooting in Game 2, despite losing Gary Payton II for the season, I expect the Dubs to rebound well moving forward.