After losing eight of their last ten games, the Golden State Warriors went into Thursday’s matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies in what felt like a must-win situation. Unfortunately for the Warriors, it did not exactly pan out that way.
The Grizzlies jumped all over the Warriors, taking a 31-point lead at halftime and just never took their feet off the gas. Memphis defended their home court to pick up a commanding 51-point win, the largest margin of victory in the NBA this season.
It was an impressive team effort from the Grizzlies, as all 12 players who touched the court scored 5+ and six were in double-digits. As a team, Memphis shot 54.1 percent from the field and 56.3 percent from deep, an insane shooting night that will rarely be replicated.
Nobody on the Warriors really showed up outside of Andrew Wiggins and Brandin Podziemski, who combined for 40 points on efficient 15-24 shooting. Stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green certainly did not have fun on Thursday night, combining for 2 points on 0-11 shooting.
Green had a historically bad night, putting up one of the worst statistical performances anyone has ever seen. In 19 minutes, the four-time NBA All-Star posted 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 4 turnovers on 0-7 shooting. His minus-42 is the worst plus/minus of any player in NBA history who played 20 minutes or less.
This anomaly of a game should not decide Golden State’s season, but Green’s historically poor performance in a crushing 51-point loss certainly cannot help their cold streak.
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