Next stop for Grizzlies is San Antonio as the hits keep coming
OAKLAND, Calif. - Less than a year ago, Mike Conley symbolized the Grizzlies' postseason courage and toughness when he played a second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors with a broken face.
Next stop for Grizzlies is San Antonio as the hits keep coming OAKLAND, Calif. - Less than a year ago, Mike Conley symbolized the Grizzlies' postseason courage and toughness when he played a second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors with a broken face. Check out this story on commercialappeal.com: https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/nba/memphis/2016/04/14/next-stop-for-grizzlies-is-san-antonio-as-the-hits-keep-coming/90502224/
Ronald Tillery, The Commercial Appeal Published 3:55 a.m. CT April 14, 2016
A Golden State Warriors fan holds up a 73 sign as Warriors guard Stephen Curry, bottom left, runs out of the tunnel before an NBA basketball game between the Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
OAKLAND, Calif. – Less than a year ago, Mike Conley symbolized the Grizzlies' postseason courage and toughness when he played a second-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors with a broken face.
Conley, now recovering from Achilles tendinitis, didn't play but sat with his teammates in the visitor's locker room Wednesday night at Oracle Arena still serving as a source of inspiration. Conley also represents the reality of how the Grizzlies will enter the 2016 postseason – undermanned.
(GRIZ LOSE TO RECORD-SETTING WARRIORS)
Grit and grind has turned into grit and daily grieving about the loss of several key players.
These Griz will go into the league's second season with Conley and Marc Gasol (broken foot) unavailable. Brandan Wright is lost due to a MCL sprain. Super sub Mario Chalmers suffered a season-ending right Achilles tendon rupture last month.
The Griz played Wednesday without Tony Allen, who is nursing a hamstring injury but he's expected to be ready for action in the postseason.
So after becoming the answer to a trivia question on a night when the Golden State Warriors set an NBA record with 73 regular-season wins, the Griz now must wrestle with the league's second-most winningest team this season.
The 67-win San Antonio Spurs.
"It's tough at the moment. We've got a lot of injuries. We're limping in. But we've got a lot of young guys learning the system and playing hard. You couldn't ask for anything more," veteran swingman Vince Carter said. "Games like this is what we needed. We needed to play in a big game with all the buzz. That's how every game is going to be in the playoffs. Every possession in the playoffs is going to be important. This is the experience our young guys need. I could give the fatherly speech but there's nothing like going through it. We're going to keep putting guys in the fire and learn on the fly."
Memphis' largest deficit against the Warriors was 23 points in the second half. There were times when the Griz threatened to get the margin in single digits.
But overcoming the Warriors' 20-of-47 shooting from beyond the three-point arc proved daunting. Stephon Curry buried 10 3-pointers. If the Griz took any solace from the loss it was their spirit in the face of becoming a footnote a historic moment for the league.
"It kind of ticked (the Warriors) off in the third and fourth quarters," Griz coach Dave Joerger said. "We didn't quit. We didn't quit. We've got great senior leadership. They didn't let us quit. We wanted to see what we can do. We kept coming out and attacking."
Still, the Griz lost 10 of their final 11 games. Memphis finished 16-25 on the road after dropping the last six away from FedExForum. The only other end-of-season malaise that rivals this happened at the close of the 2003-04 season when the 50-win Griz earned their first playoff berth but dropped six of their last seven, including the final four.
That team got swept by the Spurs in the first round.
That 2004 playoff squad was also healthy.
However, these Griz found a way to earn the franchise's sixth straight postseason appearance and they don't intend to be taken lightly. They may be unrecognizable but opponents realize the Griz still can make life on the court uncomfortable.
"It's one of the most impressive stories in the NBA this year," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said about the Grizzlies' perseverance.
Here is the Grizzlies' complete first-round playoff schedule:
First round, best-of-seven series
No. 7 Grizzlies vs No. 2 San Antonio Spurs
Game 1: Sunday, April 17, 7 p.m., TNT, San Antonio
Game 2: Tuesday, April 19, 8:30 p.m., TNT, San Antonio
Game 3: Friday, April 22, 8:30 p.m., FedExForum, ESPN
Game 4: Sunday, April 24, noon, FedExForum, ABC
Game 5*: Tuesday, April 26, San Antonio
Game 6*: Thursday, April 28, FedExForum
Game 7*: Saturday, April 30, San Antonio
(* If necessary, time and television arrangements to be determined)
Congrats to the @Warriors, a great group of guys on and off the court. If somebody had to break the Bulls' record, I'm glad it's them.
— President Obama (@POTUS) April 14, 2016
Already the first player to make 300 3-pointers in a season, Warriors guard Stephen Curry became the first player to make 400 3-pointers in a season by burying 10 shots from long range against the Griz. He finished with 46 points in the game and has 402 3-pointers this season. Curry is the first guard since Michael Jordan (1991-92) to average 30 points and shoot 50 percent from the field.
"It's a great way to finish off what was an amazing regular season. I just told our guys I never in a million years would have guessed that that record would ever be broken. I thought it was like DiMaggio's hit streak, really. I was wrong, but I will say the same thing now that I said 20 years ago, 'I don't think this one will ever be broken.' Somebody's got to go 74-8. I don't see it, and I hope our fans aren't expecting that next year."
— Kerr, putting the Warriors' feat in perspective
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