The Golden State Warriors continued to keep the good times rolling on Friday night, picking up a 123-118 win that was much more comfortable than the final score suggests. The Warriors were in complete control for the entire second half of this one, leading by as many as 24 points as they coasted to the finish line.
The end of the game got a little bit wonky, as the pace slowed down and the game was dragged along by whistles. In the process, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr got a technical foul and forward Draymond Green was ejected after being given two technicals on the bench. After the game, Kerr apologized to the fans for the quality of basketball in the second half, according to Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
“The last quarter, the last half was disgusting. I felt bad for our fans having to watch that – what transpired,” Kerr said, per Andrews.
There was a lot of ugly basketball played in this one, and the game slowed down to a halt as the two teams finished with a combined 58 free throw attempts and 49 fouls. The Warriors committed 19 turnovers on the night while the Grizzlies shot just 7-for-42 from 3-point range.
With this win, the Warriors moved to 10-2 on the season and 2-0 in NBA Cup play, putting them in great position to advance out of the group stage and into the quarterfinals. They have two more group stage games, one against the New Orleans Pelicans and one against the Denver Nuggets, to secure their spot.
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Kerr and company will be thankful that the Warriors didn’t have to expend a lot of energy in this win, especially from some of their top players. Stephen Curry played just 26 minutes and took nine shots in this game on his way to 13 points. Andrew Wiggins only played 21 minutes, so this was a great chance for the team to get fresh.
The Warriors will be back in action this regular season on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers, where Kerr will hope to see some better basketball from his squad.
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