[Minstrel]

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5:00 pm PST Mon Feb 2, 2004
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<TD ALIGN=CENTER>Golden State Warriors</TD>

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<TD ALIGN=CENTER>Memphis Grizzlies</TD>

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Key Injuries:

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Golden State



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Yahoo Preview

The Golden State Warriors hope their defense can lead them to a fourth-straight win as they visit the Memphis Grizzlies at the Pyramid.

After allowing more than 103 points per game last season, the Warriors are allowing just 95 this season. Coach Eric Musselman credits the tenacity to personnel changes and the dedication of several newcomers.

Golden State followed up a home win over Midwest Division-leading Minnesota with a dominating 101-81 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Friday. The Bulls were held to 34 percent shooting by a Warriors team that has never been known for its defensive prowess.

``Defensively, we did a phenomenal job,'' Musselman said. ``We've put together two of our best defensive games of the year back-to-back, in our coaching staff's eyes.''

Golden State's defense has allowed an average of 84.3 points in consecutive wins over Portland, Minnesota and Chicago.

``We play a lot better defense now,'' said Warriors guard Jason Richardson. ``My first two seasons, we didn't work on defense as hard as we do now. It's been different this year. We're a good offensive team, but now we have respect for the defensive side.''

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2004020229
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[MightyReds2020]

Nice work Minstrel and hope these game threads can spice up the Warriors board!

As for the game, here are something I am quite interested:

1. If NVE comes back, will he start? Personally I hope Speedy can keep his place. He has earned it.

2. Who is going to replace Mike Dunleavy in the starting lineup? I think Cheaney will start, as he backed up very often at SF. But I'm also very interested to see if Pietrus can get a lot of minutes in this game. Pietrus vs Battier must be a good one.

3. Cliffy's D vs Gasol's O. The good thing is Cliffy is gonna frustrate Gasol with his man-to-man skills; the bad thing is Memphis is not a one-man team offensively so even if Gasol struggles, they still will have guys stepping up.

[Minstrel]

Originally posted by <b>MightyReds2020</b>!
Nice work Minstrel and hope these game threads can spice up the Warriors board!

Thanks, I hope so! Maybe soon, we'll have 20+ page game threads like the Bulls forum does.

As for the game, here are something I am quite interested:

1. If NVE comes back, will he start? Personally I hope Speedy can keep his place. He has earned it.

2. Who is going to replace Mike Dunleavy in the starting lineup? I think Cheaney will start, as he backed up very often at SF. But I'm also very interested to see if Pietrus can get a lot of minutes in this game. Pietrus vs Battier must be a good one.

These are a bit related, but rumour is that either Cheaney will replace Dunleavy Jr. or the Warriors might employ a three-guard starting lineup: Nick the Quick, Speedy Claxton and J-Rich.

That could be exciting.

[TheRifleman]

Without Dunleavy, it is amazing that the Warriors are still giving the Grizz such trouble. Calbert picked up a 2nd foul before the first quarter ended.

The warriors are shooting well, but the Grizz have more attempts and not that many more offensive rebounds. The free throw shooting for the Warriors is not good - so far.

Score: 38/40(Grizz up by 2 with just over 6 minutes to play in the half.

[TheRifleman]

Considering that the Warriors are on the road and without Dunleavy, I think they're doing quite well. They are shooting at a 61% clip.
21-34 and 13-20
.618% and the free throws are .650%

They just need to buckle down on defense, outrebound the Grizz by a bigger margin than just 1, and MAKE their free throws(13/20 to ONLY 8/9 for the Grizz).

[TheRifleman]

This is a strange game - Dampier blocked like 4 shots that quarter. They're getting to the free throw line, but not converting like they could. They're defending pretty good, but the offense of Wright is so good tonight(7/9), that the Grizz are hanging in there. The game seems to be in the needed tempo for the Warriors, but I still think it is anybody's game.

[D5]

BEAUTIFUL call by the ref.

[TheRifleman]

Strange game and even stranger 4th quarter! How one can shoot 50% & 60% and then go bottoms up in the 4th is a mystery. Oh well, there were a few "make-up" calls that went the way of the Grizz.

Warriors on to the Mavericks, which should be a fun game to watch.