Curry creates unwanted personal history to typify Warriors nightmare in Memphis

With Dennis Schroder making his team debut and the franchise looking to respond from poor recent form, there was a sense of anticipation about the Golden State Warriors matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.

That anticipation disappeared almost entirely from the opening whistle though, with the Warriors producing one of the worst performances in recent memory in a 144-93 loss to the Grizzlies at FedExForum.

Stephen Curry's rough night epitomized the Warriors' struggles

Starting Stephen Curry, Schroder, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, Golden State immediately fell behind 13-2 in an opening four minutes that set the tone for the rest of the game.

By the end of the opening period the Warriors found themselves down 37-15, and extraordinarily it only got worse from there as the Grizzlies completely obliterated the visitors on both ends of the floor.

Golden State were down 69-38 at half-time, then proceeded to lose the third-quarter 40-21 as Memphis opened up a barely believable 50-point advantage entering the fourth. Both teams seemingly went through the motions in the fourth, with the Warriors eventually going down by 51 in a game that's sure to have some repercussions.

There were essentially no positives for Golden State as the final score would suggest, but Andrew Wiggins could at least hold his head up as almost a lone hand for the team through the first three quarters.

The 2022 All-Star had 19 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, with the Warriors otherwise shooting an inexplicably poor 35.6% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. Brandin Podziemski had an efficient 21 points, four rebounds and six assists off the bench on 9-of-13 shooting, but most of that came in garbage time during the fourth.

Nothing typified Golden State's struggles more than Stephen Curry's historically poor individual performance. The 2x MVP finished with two points, three rebounds and an assist on 0-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes, making unwanted history as the first time in his career where he went without a field goal in more than 12 minutes of action.

Curry was far from alone in struggling significantly. His new back court partner had a forgettable debut, with Schroder scoring just five points on 2-of-12 shooting to go with five assists and four turnovers.

Green returned to the starting lineup with nothing but negative impact, going without a single point, rebound or assist but recording four fouls and four turnovers in 19 minutes. Kuminga's return to the bench also didn't go well, having scored 11 points on 2-of-12 shooting to go with four turnovers.

It was the defense that was actually the bigger concern for Golden State, having also conceded 143 against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Memphis went 27-of-48 (56.3%) from 3-point range as they continually got wide open looks from a collapsing Warrior defense.

Thursday's game can be classified as nothing short of a complete disaster and embarrasment for the Warriors as they slide to 2-9 in their past 11 games. The challenges will only keep coming as they now head to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Saturday.