Game notes:
- Lionell Hollins literally force-fed Rudy Gay after the Barnes injury. Clearly, the Grizzlies had no respect for any Warrior swingman on defense without Rush in tow. Klay and Barnes were toasted. I thought Harrison looked the best on him, but the sheer amount of rookie fouls canceled out his effort. For what it's worth, it still took Gay 18 shots to get 18 points, but with him, Gasol, and Conley all shooting 8 free throws a piece, there's no beating the Grizzlies.
- While I'm not saying there's anything incorrect about it... There's something ruthless about Hollins cherry-picking Biedrins to shoot the free throws after Rush's gruesome injury. The team was shell shocked and Biedrins isn't even the rotation for God's sake; he may as well be in a suit. Again, I get it, I'd want our team to do the same if the circumstances were reversed, but it was definitely salt in the wound.
- The only real coaching mistake I observed from Mark Jackson was taking out Carl Landry midway through the 4th to reinsert Lee. You always ride the hot hand and Landry was carrying our offense in the second half after Memphis ratcheted up on Curry. Landry was +12 on 20 points, Lee was -1 on 16 points. 'Nuff said.
- Jackson sounded just as frustrated as Bogut with the minutes situation after the game. While MJ took most of the heat, he did mention that he's "under orders" to keep Bogut around 20 minutes. Speaking of Bogut, the big guy looks good when he's out there, but the team is floundering and his lack of practice with them all is evident. For a guy whose value lives on plus-minus, Bogut is -23 on the season so far (the team, overall, is -8).
- Festus Ezeli needs Kareem goggles. He's a scrapper and in 2 games, he's already been knocked in the throat and scratched in the eye. Armor up, big homie.
- Marc Gasol is such a smart basketball player. His ability to use angles, see the half-court, get positioning, make things happen... It's overwhelming. Even at 100%, I don't know if Bogut stops a guy like him. Mike Conley, likewise, has learned how to bring his game to the NBA level with dangerous consistency; something that eluded him early in his career. Bob Fitzgerald put it best: tonight, the Warriors got beat. It's worse when you lose, but tonight they got beat. Without going into specifics, Memphis is simply a superior team at this junction. Lotta experience, lotta talent, going against 25% of the Warriors lockdown defenders (half of Bogut, none of Rush) = a Golden State defeat.