OAKLAND, Calif. - If the NBA playoffs were a game of two-on-two, Memphis Grizzlies big men Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph would have outscored Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson 41-40 Sunday.
But the top-seeded Warriors are playing much more than a two-man game this season.
Getting double-figure scoring from five players and significant contributions from 11 guys, the Warriors ran away from the Grizzlies 101-86 in Game 1 if the Western Conference semifinals.
“We need everybody to play well,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr insisted. “We’re not going to get the whole group playing at a high level individually every single night. But if we’re all competing, we’ll find enough guys to play well.”
Curry and Thompson combined for 14 third-quarter points, matching the Memphis team total in the period, as the Warriors ran off to a 20-point lead en route to the comfortable win.
Game 2 in the best-of-7 between clubs who have never previously met in a playoff series is scheduled for Tuesday night in Oakland.
“We can do a lot of things better,” said Gasol, who had 21 points and nine rebounds in the loss. “I feel like we did some good things. We’ve just got to do it more.”
Curry finished with 22 points and Thompson added 18 as the Warriors recorded a 21st consecutive home win while remaining unbeaten in five games in the postseason.
The Grizzlies, seeded fifth in the West but coming off a 4-1 series win over No. 4 Portland, was playing without starting point guard Mike Conley, who suffered a facial fracture in the opening round.
“There’s no secret he makes their team better,” Curry said. “If we continue to do what we do, do what we did tonight on the defensive end, I think we’ll be fine regardless of who suits up for them.”
Golden State, which won the season series 2-1 over the Grizzlies, led by as many as 10 in the first quarter and 16 in the second en route to a 61-52 halftime advantage. The Warriors shot 61.5 percent in a very offensive-oriented first 24 minutes.
The versatile Warriors then tightened the defensive screws in the third period, limiting the Grizzlies to 40.0 percent shooting and a total of six field goals over the 12 minutes en route to an 80-60 advantage they were able to ride to a rather comfortable win over the final 14 minutes.
“Their strength is they’re really good inside,” Warriors power forward Draymond Green said of Gasol and Randolph. “You’re probably not going to just dominate them inside. We’ve just got to make sure we continue to keep the floor spaced. We have to use our strengths against them (and take advantage of) one of the few, maybe, if you want to call it a weakness that they have.”
Memphis got no closer than 13 in the final period, and when they did, Curry and Thompson buried 3-pointers apiece over a five-possession span that pushed the visitors out of contention for good.
