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After more than a week off to rest, the Golden State Warriors' second round matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies will begin on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PST at Oracle Arena.
As Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area wrote the other day, the time off was probably a good thing for a Warriors teams that had a few players playing with pain.
Green has not griped about the state of his body, but the ice bags around both shins and his left ankle speak volumes. He sat out a week late in the season to rest his shins. He turned his ankle in Game 1 against New Orleans. That he played as magnificently as he did in the first round is a profile in toughness...(Iguodala) said he didn't think he had a very good season. He was at least partly joking, evident when it was pointed out that he had a really good stretch in the weeks after the All-Star break. It wasn't a coincidence that he had been off his achy knees for nine days.
That's not to mention the status of David Lee, who has yet to appear in a playoff game this year due to a back issue — the Warriors will be continuing their quest for the title rested and about as healthy as any NBA team could hope to be in early May.
And while the Warriors had plenty of time to rest, the Grizzlies are coming off of a five-game series in which point guard Mike Conley didn't play for two games after suffering an injury in Game 3. So the health situation combined with home court advantage throughout the 2015 NBA Playoffs bodes pretty well for a Warriors team that went 39-2 at home during the regular season (plus two additional home wins against the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round).
If this series goes long, it will be interesting to see how much that time off will benefit the Warriors.
Game |
Location |
Date/Time |
Time |
TV |
1 |
Oracle Arena | Sunday, May 3 | 12:30 p.m. PST | ABC |
2 |
Oracle Arena |
Tuesday, May 5 |
7:30 p.m. PST |
TNT |
3 |
FedExForum |
Saturday, May 9 |
5 p.m. PST |
ABC |
4 |
FedExForum |
Monday, May 11 |
6:30 p.m. PST |
TNT |
5 |
Oracle Arena |
Wednesday, May 13 |
TBD (if necessary) |
|
6 |
FedExForum |
Friday, May 15 |
TBD (if necessary) |
|
7 |
Oracle Arena |
Sunday, May 17 |
TBD (if necessary) |
|
So with plenty of rest, Conley's uncertain status, and Roaracle advantage, how do you think this series will play out? Make your official prediction in the comments and vote in the poll below!