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Golden State Warriors def. Memphis Grizzlies, 117-101
There's a line of thinking that suggests teams going for a three-peat struggle with the grind of the regular season. Tht's certainly not the case for the Golden State Warriors so far. The Dubs have won 10 of their first 1 games, their second-best start through 11 games in franchise history (11-0 record in 2015-16 is the best).
On Monday night, the Warriors won their eighth straight game, improving to a league-best 10-1 record. The team's three All-Stars in Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined for 68 points but it was the team's two-way player Alfonzo McKinnie who stole the show and made headlines after this win.
He tallied 14 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting in 30 minutes of play.
Capping a 14-0 run with this @_Alvo_ #SPLASH 💦
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 6, 2018
📺 @NBCSAuthentic pic.twitter.com/H3BgDr4mMj
A game with the grit-and-grind Grizzlies is always a contest of opposing tempos, especially for Golden State. The game was tight in the first half with both squads tied at 58 after the first 24 minutes but like most times, the Warriors only needed one big spurt to run away with the game and as we've seen many times, they did it in the third quarter. Outscoring Memphis 34-15 in the third period, the Dubs, despite missing key reserves in Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, made the rest of the game a no-contest.
Current Record & Standing
As mentioned earlier, the Warriors are 10-1, tied for the best record in the league with the East-leading Toronto Raptors. Despite their 8-game win streak, Golden State only holds a 0.5 game lead for the top spot in the West with the Denver Nuggets (9-1) close on their heels.
Next 5 games
Nov. 9 vs Milwaukee Bucks - 9AM
The Warriors welcome Giannis Antetokounmpo and the 8-1 Milwaukee Bucks to the Oracle Arena, easily their best opponent this late in the season (record-wise). They are 6-2 against the Bucks in the Giannis era.
Nov. 11 vs Brooklyn Nets - 7 AM
Nov. 13 @ LA Clippers - 9 AM
Nov. 14 vs Atlanta Hawks - 9 AM
Nov. 16 @ Houston Rockets - 6:30 AM
Notable Stats and Trends
- Despite a slightly lackluster game for Curry (19 points on 35.3% shooting), the 2-time MVP still leads the league in scoring with an average of 31.3 points per game.
- With 3 three's against the Grizzlies, Curry took his three-pointers tally to 62 for the season. That's still 20 ahead of Kemba Walker at the No. 2 spot.
- Through their current 8-game win streak, the Warriors are averaging 128.5 points and 32.4 assists per game at 53.1% shooting from the field and 45.0% from beyond the arc - all league leading stats over that time span.
- Draymond Green suffered a right foot contusion in the first half and didn't play a majority of the second half. According to Steve Kerr, in the postgame interview, Green's X-rays came out negative and no official word has been made of his availability yet.
- Interesting stat for the season so far, which should be no surprise - Curry (6.3) and Durant (6.1) are second and third in the league for fastbreak points per game.