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Warriors vs. Grizzlies Preview: Brandon Rush's Revenge

The Warriors are banged up, but they're also riding high on a franchise-record 16-game winning streak. Golden State has no choice but to suck it up as they head to the FedEx Forum to play a very talented Memphis Grizzlies team.

By Jared Stearne
Draymond Green will have his hands full, Tuesday night in Memphis.
Draymond Green will have his hands full, Tuesday night in Memphis.
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Matchup
Golden State Warriors
21-2 (13-1 Road)
 vs
Memphis Grizzlies
19-4 (11-1 Home)
Details
December 16th, 2014
FedEx Forum, Memphis
5:00PM PT
CSN Bay Area | KNBR 680 AM
Blog Buddy: Grizzly Bear Blues
Projected Starters
Stephen Curry G Mike Conley
Klay Thompson G Tony Allen
Andre Iguodala F Courtney Lee
Draymond Green F Zach Randolph
Festus Ezeli C Marc Gasol
Key Injuries

David Lee - Out
Andrew Bogut - Out
Harrison Barnes - Questionable

2014/15 Four Factors
eFG% TOV% ORB% FT/FGA eFG% TOV% ORB% FT/FGA
.532 (2nd) 14.9 (25th) 23.5 (24th) .208 (17th) OFF .507 (11th) 12.4 (7th) 25.2 (19th) .239 (5th)
.448 (1st) 13.9 (12th) 73.8 (18th) .206(13th) DEF .489 (9th) 14.5 (10th) 73.3 (23rd) .180 (1st)
★★★

Let's face facts. The Golden State Warriors could win the 2014-2015 NBA Championship and Charles Barkley still wouldn't consider them a legitimate title contender.

For everyone else on the planet earth, however, I think its safe to say that we agree: the 21-2 Warriors are a contender, plain as day. If going 21-2 wasn't good enough to qualify as a contender, we'd only have like five NBA Championships awarded in the past 50 years. That number seems a little low, doesn't it?

So Tuesday night's much-ballyhooed showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies may not be the definitive proof-of-product some of us have been hoping for. Sorry pundits, but 16 straight wins and 10 straight on the road already told us that this team is good. The only thing the Warriors can prove by beating the Grizzlies on the road, while short-handed, is that they might be the best team in NBA history. Or that they're just head-and-shoulders above the other 29 teams in the Association.

More: Warriors come to Memphis short-handed

Unfortunately, the Warriors enter their not-really-even-kind-of-western conference house of horrors Tuesday without, perhaps, their entire starting front court. That could be trouble against Gasol and Z-Bo, two players known to dominate the painted area--especially when facing our cute and innocent Dubbies.

The Dubs will have no choice but to counter with speed and guile, as they just don't have the bodies to go toe-to-toe with the Grizzlies up front right now. If Curry and Klay find their stroke early anything can happen. But this game looks like a rough match up on paper, given the circumstances. The Grizzlies would be a tough out, even if everyone were healthy.

Maybe Brandon Rush, who missed almost all of  the 2012 season due to a very unfortunate cheap shot foul from Zach Randolph, will be the hero to carry the Dubs to their seventeenth straight victory? Or will Black Falcon "Willis Reed" it off the bench and inspire Golden State to victory? We can only hope.

Let's Go Warriors.


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