Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies: The Greater Significance of Game 4
Can the Memphis Grizzlies push the Golden State Warriors to the brink of elimination? Will the Warriors regain home-court advantage? The significance of Game 4 goes far beyond such shortsighted questions.
This game could set the tone for the future of both franchises. Though a loss will not seal the fate of either team, this has the feeling of a Game 7. A Golden State win not only ties the series but ensures that all the Warriors have to do to advance is win both matchups at the Roaracle, where they lost only twice all season, per Basketball-Reference.com.
True, the Grizzlies did already win a game there this series, but doing so twice seems like a daunting task. That's not to say it's impossible, just that it's hard to pick against a team that has been historically good in its own building, per CSNBayArea.com.
Memphis' core of Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have been chasing a championship together for six years. It is highly unlikely that an opportunity as good as this one awaits them in the future. They spent five years trying to "Grit and Grind" their way past the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder; now, neither team stands in their way.
Instead, the Grizzlies' most immediate obstacle is a Golden State team that represents a new era of basketball. The Warriors offense operates from the outside in, relying on pace, ball movement and motion without the basketball to conduct a free-flowing symphony, as MVP Stephen Curry and his fellow Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, enchant spectators with a crescendo of three-pointers.
Memphis fights for what is becoming an antiquated notion: In the playoffs, when the game slows down, points primarily come from the post. On the flip side, there isn't a more worthy representative of the new school than the Warriors. This is a battle that will tell the basketball world whether or not the old dominion still reigns supreme.
Right now, the old guard is winning. Memphis' defense has harassed Golden State into shooting 45 percent from the field, 31 percent from three-point range and slightly less than 72 percent from the foul-line, per Basketball-Reference.com. Going from making just under 48 percent of all shots from the field (tops in the league, per NBA.com) to 45 percent may not seem significant, but in the playoffs, where every point is crucial, this matters.
Furthermore, among the eight teams in the conference semifinals, the only team the Dubs are shooting better than from beyond the arc are the Grizzlies, per NBA.com. According to the same statistical database, the Warriors rank fifth in free-throw percentage.
If this holds up, Golden State will head into the offseason trying to answer several difficult questions: Was this anything more than a case of shots not falling? Do the Warriors need to generate more scoring from inside? And most importantly, can the current philosophy net them a championship?
Of course, it would be foolish to prematurely write off the team that was the best in the NBA this regular season. Come tipoff, we may learn the Warriors have recaptured their shooting touch, a prospect that would terrify and perhaps sink the Grizzlies.
If that is how this series plays out, it may represent the closing of Memphis' championship window. While it is hard to imagine Gasol, an unrestricted free agent, leaving, the possibility exists. Even if he remains in the fold, Randolph will be 34 years old by the start of next season, and the team's best perimeter on-ball defender, Tony Allen, will turn the same age in January. One has to wonder if these two will be as effective as they are now after experiencing another year of wear-and-tear.
Game 4 may not decide this series, but it will swing momentum heavily toward one side. Will the pendulum sway in the direction of basketball's new era, or will another jump shooting team fail to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy? When the final second ticks off the clock, you'll have the answer.
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