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The Golden State Warriors had a terrible day at the office against the Memphis Grizzlies. Faced with the opportunity to close out their Western Conference semifinals series against the Grizzlies in Game 5, the Warriors fluffed their lines in dramatic fashion. The Memphis Grizzlies simply rode roughshod over the the Golden State Warriors while playing in front of their home fans to earn a lopsided 134-95 victory on Wednesday.
Desperate to save their season and extend the series, the Grizzlies dominated the Warriors in nearly every aspect of the game. They scored a whopping 77 points in the first half and forced a current postseason-high 22 turnovers from the Golden State Warriors. Memphis also shot the ball better from downtown (18-of-41, 44%) compared to Golden State (14-of-39, 36%) while outrebounding the visitors 55-37.
With the Grizzlies outscoring their opponents 42-17 in the third quarter, the hosts led the Warriors by as many as 55 points (119-64) at the end of the third period, the second-largest lead at any point of a playoff game over the last 25 years.
Five-time All-Star Klay Thompson, who finished with 19 points and a minus-45 overall for the game, was clearly disappointed with the Golden State Warriors' performance in the contest. He told reporters in the post-game media interaction:
"It was awful. It was embarrassing. From the opening tip, we didn’t have great flow. They were more aggressive than us, reflecting in 30 free throws to our 13. We all had the mindset we were going to close it out tonight, but sometimes basketball isn't an exact science. We played like a shell of ourselves. Like I said before, we'll watch film, make the necessary adjustments and you will see a totally different effort on Friday. "
Golden State Warriors have another opportunity to close out Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6
Irrespective of Wednesday's events, the Warriors will have another chance to end the Grizzlies' postseason aspirations on Friday night. They will host Memphis at Chase Center, with the distinction of being the only Western Conference team to remain unbeaten on their home floor in the postseason.
With Ja Morant (right knee bone bruise) unlikely to play in Game 6, the Memphis Grizzlies will once again have the odds stacked against themselves. They are yet to win a contest at Chase Center in the postseason, having lost Games 3 and 4 on the Warriors' home floor. However, should Memphis manage to win on Friday, they will draw comfort from the fact that Game 7 will be played on their home floor at FedExForum.
Guess the Lakers players!
