“Ugly game. Real physical”.
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The 2.13m centre scored eight points and pulled down 11 rebounds, combining with centre Festus Ezeli to harry and hinder Pistons centre Andre Drummond all night.
Scola scored 17 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the third quarter.
But the general tempo didn’t matter as much as expected, because the Warriors still managed to outscore Memphis 16-8 in fastbreak points and limited the Grizzlies to 34.3 percent shooting on 70 field-goal attempts.
Last time these two teams met was on November 2 when the Warriors annihilated the Grizzlies as they beat them 119-69. That is the way it has been all season, with five of their six losses coming by double digits. He doesn’t miss a lot of shots, and when he does, he can recover.
The Warriors were 11 of 27 (41%) from three-point range.
That’s right, the team made a decision to go to McDonald’s for a pre-travel snack.
Golden State tied the old Philadelphia Warriors for the best start in franchise history. The Spurs shot 53 percent.
Johnson, forward Marcus Morris (15 points) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (15 points) bombed in 3-pointers as the Pistons rallied within 80-76 by quarter’s end.
Klay Thompson added 24 points, Barnes had 12, Iguodala scored 13 and Barbosa had 10, including five straight to help the Warriors pull away in the fourth quarter. DeMarcus Cousins returned from a four-game injury absence and led Sacramento with 21 points and 12 rebounds. This talented, young team shows signs of being very competitive this season, so the Warriors will have to bring their A-game if they want to win this one on the road. Despite this, it wasn’t an easy win for the National Basketball Association Champions, who needed a boost from their bench in order to get the win.
“We’re going to go out there and play our tails off and see what happens”, Griz coach Dave Joerger said. “But playing hard is not enough”. “I feel like most games we get more open looks than that”.
Grizzlies: Mario Chalmers and James Ennis, acquired in a trade with the Miami Heat on Tuesday, were not available.
The reigning MVP after making a ridiculous 3-pointer punched the air not in exhilaration but in frustration after not having got a foul call on top of it. He had thrown up a one-handed prayer toward the basket while falling down believing he would hear a whistle and banked in the 29-foot shot.
Grizzlies: F Brandan Wright (R knee soreness) was listed as questionable and did not play. “We’re short-handed”, Joerger said…. Golden State PG Stephen Curry brought a league-best, 32.4-point scoring average into Wednesday’s game.
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Over the next two weeks, Golden State will play 8 games to determine if they do break the record for most consecutive wins to start the season.
