Welp that trick
Memphis delivers to Golden State an epic beatdown.
Good morning. Free Brittney Griner. Let’s basketball.
Asmodea, Francisco Goya, 1820-23
Stephen Curry, one of the greatest of all-time, apparently feeling that a 3-1 lead is secure, before Game 5 in Memphis:
The Warriors’ plan tonight, according to Steph? “Whoop that trick” 👀
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) 8:02 PM ∙ May 11, 2022
@kendra__andrews joins NBA Today
A few hours later:
Both Steph Curry and Draymond Green to the bench with nearly seven minutes left in the third quarter. May not see them again unless this group goes on a run. Warriors down 41.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) 3:17 AM ∙ May 12, 2022
A few minutes after that:
Al Kapone just yelled: "Steph Curry in your face!" in the midst of the official Whoop That Trick. Amazing.
— Mark Giannotto (@mgiannotto) 3:42 AM ∙ May 12, 2022
Steph Curry requested it.
— Chris Herrington (@ChrisHerrington) 3:45 AM ∙ May 12, 2022
Somehow, the Warriors seem unbothered by the fact that they had reporters looking up box scores from the biggest playoff blowouts ever. Nineteen minutes of garbage time and Draymond Green looked downright giddy to be bouncing.
Grizzlies dance crew singing “Whoop that trick!” in Stephen Curry’s face during Game 5 timeout
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) 3:44 AM ∙ May 12, 2022
This thing was so lopsided that it came all the way around from being miserable to getting to hilarious. It became an honor to be a part of a beatdown so enormous and notable.
This was as thorough a beatdown as the Warriors have experienced in an important game in their entire dynastic run. The Warriors do this to opponents. Teams don’t do this to the Warriors. Golden State continued to turn over the ball way too much in the first half, Golden State continued to shoot abnormally poorly (even accounting for the Grizzlies’ good defense), Memphis did just about whatever they wanted on offense without Ja Morant.
Here’s something: in the first half, the Grizzlies dropped 77 points on 54 possessions. How? Three turnovers and 13 offensive rebounds, plus 58% effective field goal percentage. Look at it this way: they ended up with 64 shot attempts (57 FGAs and 16 FTAs, the latter of which is equivalent to 7 “trips” to the line) in 54 possessions; if those had all been twos, Memphis shot the equivalent of 58% on them. Recipe for buckets.
Despite 14 turnovers and just two offensive rebounds in the first half, Golden State put up 50 points. IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. In the early third it did get worse, and Jon Konchar and Jarrett Culver got to come out and whoop that trick in the fourth.
Golden State has two more chances to finish this series off. If the Warriors handle business on Friday, this Game 5 becomes a fond memory for the 20,000 people at the Grindhouse, and maybe a reminder to the Grizzlies and the Warriors of what can happen in the NBA when the teams meet in more high-stakes games.
If the Grizzlies find a way to win on Friday — and that’s two straight dodgy performances by the Warriors, it’s possible! — the Grindhouse itself might ascend to a higher plane for Game 7 on Monday, like a Terran command center in Starcraft.
The Grizzlies might end up going down, but they sure as hell won’t be going down quietly. As it was, as it forever will be.
