Golden State: 116 Memphis:104

Part of responding successfully to adversity is to come out with all guns blazing. In a game that was suppossed to put up an easy W against the 2nd worst team in the League there were moments that were immently forgettable but at least a victory in the wake of the Portland debacle was achieved. Pau Gasol instantly showed why in the Grizzlies dismal season he is the one trying to pull a train wreck together his 43 and 11 the only reason this game was even close.

Boxscore

For the first couple of minutes this team was beautiful to watch actually establishing the tempo. Jumping out to a 10-0 and 22-5 lead the team played beatutiful fast break Basketball helped by the strong Defense and easy buckets Golden State got. Putting baron on Mike Conley and Jackson and Rudy Gay was a sign that Nelson indicated things had to improve on the Defensive end if they want to join the Western elite or else. Both never had a chance to make plays but what was sweet to watch from such a excitingly good 1st half was Monta. I was one of the fools calling him out to be traded after aextremely jittery playoff performances but tonight his aggression fuelled by his sick crossover was outstanding. By the 4th quarter, Monta was 11-11 from field and was closing in on Wilt's record of 18 straight shots without a miss. Monta finally missed in the fourth erasing his chances, but he still finished with 27 points on 12-15 shooting.






Even with Monta's success the Grizzlies made it a game. Outside of Navarro another Spaniard Pau Gasol immediately showed he needs more media attention.Hook shots, dunks, short jumpers, post-ups, interior passing, passing out of the double team, rebounds it was a 13 point deficit at the half continued in the entire game. He shot 17 for 25 and pretty much domainated everything Nelson threw at him whether it was Croshere or POB. At the start of the 4th it was 6 and it looked like Memphis were going to make it a game. Still Baron showed it would be a crying shame if he didn't make the All Star Game with a clutch shots one over Gasol and Kelenna hit a 3 with 2.35 and the Warriors up by 9 to finish it. On a night where neither Miller or Gay didn't show up probably because of the Warriors defense Golden State finally hit Memphis where it counted. After Monta the other big performance is Baron. He almost upstage Gasol's 2nd ever highest in points total by achieving 19 assists his career high. He ignored the shoot first mentality and got his teamates involved. The stat that stands out though is only one turnover.



Often after a poor performance it csn be difficult to overcome the adversity that has been raised. However against a poor team last night was never going to be in question and Golden State picked up the expected win. Sunday is the return of Funleavy. Things really do get interesting from here