-
Kendra AndrewsESPN
SAN FRANCISCO — With 3:43 to go within the fourth quarter, Klay Thompson rose above Dillon Brooks to knock down a 20-foot soar shot to place the Golden State Warriors up 16.
Brooks stumbled backward, falling over within the course of. As Thompson ran again on protection he leaned over Brooks, slide-shuffling thrice whereas sticking his tongue in his face.
“Some good, old-fashion trash discuss,” Thompson mentioned. “It is at all times enjoyable to speak trash. We have been doing that since we have been in center college. You often play your finest otherwise you get frazzled. For me, it is often the previous.”
Heading into the Warriors’ Christmas Day 123-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, each side have been hesitant to name the connection between the 2 groups a rivalry.
Positive, they’ve a quick historical past — the Grizzlies eradicated the Warriors within the play-in event in 2021 and the Warriors ended Memphis’ season final 12 months within the Western Convention Finals. There’s been loads of trash discuss between the 2 groups over the previous a number of months. However there is not sufficient there for a full-blown rivalry, they mentioned.
But, their first assembly of this season felt like the subsequent chapter in what’s a really actual (budding) rivalry.
“It is undoubtedly selecting up steam,” Kerr mentioned. “(However) to essentially develop and rivalry, there’s received to be a number of playoff sequence. Final 12 months’s sequence was actually contested and heated. We all know how good they’re and we’re making an attempt to maintain it rolling. They’re making an attempt to knock us off the mountain.”
A number of days earlier than Christmas, Ja Morant instructed ESPN he did not view any crew within the Western Convention as a menace. He named simply the Boston Celtics as who stands out as a menace to the Grizzlies’ title aspirations.
Thompson, who scored 24 factors, mentioned he did not see that interview or Morant’s feedback. And in contrast to 10 years in the past when Thompson was early in his profession, he says any exterior trash discuss would not impression him.
Trash discuss is nothing new between these two groups, specifically.
Kerr mentioned the Grizzlies broke the code when Brooks injured Gary Payton II within the Western Convention Semifinals. Jaren Jackson Jr. made enjoyable of the Warriors’ “Energy In Numbers” slogan and Thompson subsequently known as him a “freaking bum” and a “clown,”. Morant known as for this Christmas Day match-up on Twitter.
Throughout his postgame interview on ESPN, Thompson mentioned, “They have been speaking about dynasty and all of that stuff. You’ll be able to’t discuss dynasty when you have not gained earlier than … I believed that was untimely discuss, to even point out that phrase. However they bring about one of the best out of us, and I believe we do the identical.”
The dynasty remark Thompson was referring to was when Brooks mentioned Memphis was within the strategy of constructing a dynasty in March 2022 after their last regular-season assembly that 12 months.
Sunday’s recreation did carry out one of the best within the Warriors, at the least, much better than their earlier two video games — two 30-plus-point losses in New York and Brooklyn to shut a 1-5 highway journey.
Jordan Poole scored a team-high 32 factors on 11-of-25 taking pictures from the sphere and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line earlier than being ejected for selecting up two technical fouls.
Draymond Green had what Kerr considers to be a quintessential Draymond Inexperienced recreation, ending with 13 rebounds, 13 assists and simply three factors. This was Inexperienced’s fifth profession “non-points” double-double, good for second all-time within the class behind Jason Kidd (25). No different participant has greater than eight.
The Warriors have had a recreation with an identical really feel to this one earlier than — their Dec. 10 win over the Boston Celtics. They mentioned that was a recreation they might use as a blueprint to information them.
The widespread denominator they see between that recreation and their recreation on Christmas was their decision-making. In each video games, the Warriors did not power any pictures or make fast selections that led to errors. And as they navigate the subsequent two weeks (at the least) with out Stephen Curry, there may be a good smaller margin of error.
Nonetheless, there was room for enchancment in opposition to the Grizzlies. Golden State picked up six technical fouls. The ultimate three performs on the finish of the primary half have been a Poole turnover, Thompson fouling a 3-point shooter and a Poole tech. Within the fourth quarter, the Warriors picked up 4 completely different fouls — take fouls, private fouls and technical fouls — in two seconds.
However even with these sloppier moments, the Warriors knew they wished — and wanted — to make an announcement recreation.
“They’re proficient, we’re proficient, we’re seasoned and we’re making an attempt to carry these younger bucks off so long as we will,” Thompson mentioned. “It was night time to ship them a message since you by no means know who you are going to see down the highway. This crew is a possible crew we might play within the playoffs. So each time we play them, there are at all times fireworks.”