Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry combined for 71 points as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies to clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni react to the Grizzlies gritty loss, Desmond Bane’s incredible game, and the Magic defeating the Hawks. Then, the Athletic’s Marcus Thompson joins the show from Chase Center to discuss Playoff Jimmy Butler, the Warriors game plan, and the looming Houston Rockets.Host: Dave DuFourWith: Es Baraheni & Marcus ThompsonExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Grayson Moody Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What happened in the Warriors vs Grizzlies game?
Memphis and Golden State, the Warriors get the big win. We went deep on the Warrior side with Marcus. So stick around for that after the break. Yes, the Grizzlies are not done, even though they did get beat by the Warriors. They've got to go on to play another game Friday night. We don't know who the opponent is going to be yet, but either Dallas or Sacramento.
Chapter 2: How did the Grizzlies perform despite their loss?
What do you think about the Grizzlies? I mean, you know, they come back from down 20. And they have that really great run. Ja Morant goes out with an ankle sprain, comes back, and actually has kind of a heroic run there. Give me your impressions of how the Grizzlies played.
Chapter 3: Who were the standout players in the Grizzlies game?
Yeah, this was a gritty, gritty loss. For the Grizzlies. You know, we talk about grit and grind. They really embodied that tonight with the way that they fought. I thought that part of it was awesome to watch between jaw coming back from the ankle injury. I thought Zach Eady sort of figured it out as the game progressed. I want to talk about that for a second a little bit more.
Chapter 4: What is the significance of Desmond Bain's performance?
But Desmond Bain, the way that he was shooting the rock, the way that he was basically like – leading this team on the offensive end. They got contributions from a couple of different rotation guys, too. It was just a gritty way to try and grind out this away game to try and get to seventh. They couldn't do it because of a few different things. So people are going to bring up Zach Eadie.
Because in the first half, the Warriors constantly went at Edie in pick and rolls. They constantly went at him basically anytime he was guarding anybody. And the thing was, basically, they went Jimmy Butler on Zach Edie, which was the matchup the Warriors were going for. Warriors were completely comfortable with Zach trying to attack offensively.
That part of it, 100% a growing and learning experience for a rookie who's still trying to figure out how he can be impactful. Second half, I thought he really figured it out. And the Grizzlies did a better job of pre-switching certain actions to make sure that he stays around the paint. The Warriors did.
I mean, the Grizzlies did a great job of kind of walling off the paint in certain areas with Edie in the middle. He had 17 rebounds, which is seven offensive rebounds. Seven offensive rebounds, which is huge for this Grizzlies team with the way that they struggle in the half court. And he was a plus six in 32 minutes.
So I think Edie, yes, there were moments where you could say, man, why are they going to him in the post? It doesn't make sense for them to try and force the situation with him offensively. And defensively, there are moments where he was getting hunted. Yes, you expect that from a rookie. My question is, Where was Jaron Jackson Jr.?
Well, that was going to be where I was heading next. Jaron Jackson winds up with 18 points in the game, you know, four fouls. So at least, you know, he stayed out of foul trouble. But as it felt to me like he just didn't make any real impact on the game. He was four of nine from three. Again, he scored 18 points, but he was minus seven.
And single game plus minus doesn't tell you everything, but it can tell a story. And again, I contrast that with winning the Zach Eady minutes and losing the Jaron Jackson minutes. And that's your game. You know, it's a five point game. Jaron Jackson's minus seven in thirty nine minutes.
See, and this is actually part of why there's so much pressure on Zach Eady because the Grizzlies struggled with going Jaron at the five. And so they were forced. He doesn't rebound. Exactly. He had six rebounds in this game. He is the second tallest player on either roster. And there were five guys who out rebounded him tonight. So like that's. a very, very persistent issue with Jaron.
Obviously the fouls are, are another aspect, but generally they couldn't go to him at the five because they were just getting destroyed on the glass when Edie wasn't on the floor. And so, yes, we can blame Edie for rookie mistakes and kind of learning curve and all that type of stuff. But I honestly thought the, if you wanted to blame a Grizzlies big for tonight's loss, it would be Jaron.
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Chapter 5: How did Orlando Magic fare against the Hawks?
And obviously they've they've had guys in and out of the lineup. Trey Young. Got ejected in the game. And, you know, we didn't see on the TV broadcast exactly what happened, but apparently unsportsmanlike conduct. He did fake out the ref with the behind the back. What do you think about that?
Yeah, I thought that was funny. I honestly thought that was just a funny thing.
I didn't get why he got attacked.
For that. It was silly. And the reasoning after the game, the ref explained and said it was conduct detrimental to the game, which is like, what are we talking about here? He's making a mockery of the sport of basketball.
Where, you know, oftentimes at halftime, entertainment is a lady who's on a unicycle juggling bowls. So... And she is incredible at what she's done. But let's be honest here, right? Like, you know, it is an entertainment thing. But it was a weird night. I mean, it's just Atlanta never really got anything going. And obviously, you know, they didn't have – they don't have their full roster, right?
Like no Jalen Johnson is really the guy that when I was watching this game, I kept thinking, Oh wow. They are missing a long athlete to, to match up against, uh, you know, Franz and to match up against Paolo. Um,
I'll ask you this, Dave. I'm curious because now we got basically Orlando-Boston, right? And we know Boston is dealing with the Jalen Brown issue. We'll see how healthy and available and ready he is for game one and moving forward. But do you think Orlando can make some noise? Do you think they could keep up?
No, I don't. OK, I don't.
I mean, I just don't. I think Boston is too good.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the upcoming Boston vs Orlando matchup?
Chapter 7: What were the key moments in the Hawks game?
Yeah, I think it's Paolo versus Jason Tatum, which I think will be the matchup throughout this game, throughout this series, right? And Tatum is such an underrated defender. He's huge, by the way. People don't really realize how big Jason Tatum is, but you see him in person. He's like, this is a large man. And the same thing applies to Paolo Bancaro.
So it's like two guys who can just go at each other and two guys who like to get into their one-on-one game, two guys who like to mismatch hunt. I think, again, Orlando with with Paolo, they're going to have some troubles offensively getting to that and how much they lean on Franz Wagner to be a driver and pick and roll player. All that type of stuff is is, I think, important to their offense.
But defensively, they might be able to pose a challenge. You know, you think of like their size, their length on the perimeter. You mentioned Anthony Black. He's he's a great point of attack defender. But you also have Jonathan Isaac cleaning things up on the inside. Makes me think like maybe they could steal a game. But that's that's as far as I'm going to get hot. And that's the thing.
I mean, like Boston, we know the recipe to beat Boston. hold them below 35% on threes and you shoot 40%, right? Like they have missed theirs and you've got to hit yours. And, and frankly, I just, I don't trust Orlando to do it. I mean, Cole Anthony and Anthony black came off the bench and we're ridiculous. Yeah. Can they do it again? Can they do it? Right. I just, you know, it is what it is.
The talent gap between those two teams, I think, is just too far. Atlanta, they're going on. I mean, it feels like we're just setting up for Atlanta versus Chicago play in Friday night. You know, this is what it's all about.
This is why we like to play it. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, there's there's the you ever watch The Lion King and, you know, Mufasa is explaining to Simba. He's like, what's that dark side? That's the Eastern Conference play in tournament. We don't go there, Simba. That's that's how it feels like with the Eastern Conference. But shout out to the Hawks, man. They're going to win the consolation.
He's he's spot. No, I think it's going to be the Bulls.
Anyway, guys, hang out. Stick around after the break. Marcus Thompson postgame after the Warriors win.
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Chapter 8: Is Orlando ready to face Boston in the playoffs?
They went from what, like about the seven minute mark of the second quarter to So the fourth without hitting a three, right? I mean, that was when Memphis erased that big lead. What did you think about the rotations? You know, I thought Quentin Post gave him good minutes, but what did you see with what Steve Kerr was doing rotation-wise?
It's weird because the very reason, like, Jonathan Kaminga has been exiled – It doesn't stop it from happening. They're still below assignments. They still are out of place. They still are like Jimmy and Draymond spent the entire game yelling at Buddy Heald and Glenn Post for not being in position or...
doing a thing where it's like, hey, press up, take away the three, and the guy's kind of caught in between. So it's weird. I do think those guys make the hustle plays, and when they're on, they rotate. But, I mean, the NBA is just so good, and it's so fast that if you just are on the wrong foot at all, it's going to cost you. And they're bench players for a reason.
They're just... You give them seven plays, they're going to be good for five. Two of them things, you're going to cook them. And that's why they're role players, right? And when you got four guys out there, it just increases the opportunity. And then again, it's like all...
heavy in rotation right everything is rotation Draymond says the goal is to put a defense in rotation and the Warriors live in rotation so the more they rotate the more mistakes they they create yeah there was there was a time in the game uh where obviously second quarter start of second quarter it was the Jimmy Butler lineup no Steph Curry right uh and that fueled the game for them like they they went on a massive run it was actually against the
Clippers. Same against the Clippers, right?
They're finding an identity there without Steph. I think free throws is a big part of it. Like they took, Jimmy took 18 free throws tonight, which is a huge part of how he got to his 38 points. What is it about this team? Actually better question that than that is the, Does the free throw merchant ability of Jimmy Butler give a change up for this Warriors offense? Oh, yeah.
It's a Barry Zito 12 to 6 curveball.
12 to 6 curveball, yeah. You know what it is? The other thing, you know, the free throws are the end result. Yeah. But I think the actual like schematic or philosophical difference is they match up hunt. They don't match up when it's Steph. When it's Jimmy out there, Jimmy's out here like, uh... Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
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