Grizzlies 104, Warriors 103: A Lousy Game Redeemed in the Last 5 Seconds

More than just about any other team, Golden State infuriates me. They're one of those teams that has a ton of young talent, a fantastic fanbase, and probably the best uniforms in the league, but it's completely wasted on them. The Dubs are a perrenially mediocre but promising team, yet they never get any better because they keep making the same dumb mistakes. They continue to employ a front office that has proven over and over that it is incompetent. They pretty much blow it any time they draft a big. They hired Mark Jackson to be their coach. This summer they had a chance to get out from Andris Biedrins' terrible contract, but instead they amnesty Charlie Bell when they could've just bought out his contract. The Warriors fall into the same category as the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, the treadmill teams: teams that are on a treadmill of mediocrity and exist solely to be pummeled by the Yankees and the Lakers of the world. It's a real shame because the Bay Area is great, and if you read Golden State Of Mind, then you know they have wonderful fans. I wish we had a fanbase like theirs. The Bay Area deserves at least a solid team.

What's even more irritating is that the Warriors have an annoying tendency to win games they shouldn't. For instance, they'll upset the Bulls one night, but then lose to the Jazz, Lakers, and Bobcats. On paper, a game against the Dubs should be penciled in as a win, but you never know with them.

For reasons stated above, I had a bad feeling about last night's game. It sure like seemed like the Grizzlies did their damnedest to give this one away. We didn't defend the 3-point line (an ongoing problem this season). Stephen Curry (6-9), Monta Ellis (4-8), and Brandon Rush (2-2) all killed us from deep, and the Warriors shot 46% as a team from beyond the arc. We also coughed up the ball 19 times, but only managed to force 13 TO's on the other end. Rudy missed two critical free throws with us up by only 1 in the final 30 seconds. We really shouldn't have won this game.

There were some good things about this game. Marc and Speights absolutely dominated their bigs. The final free throws aside, Rudy played pretty well going 8-16 from field for 19 points, to go along with 6 boards, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Mike and Tony were their usual solid selves, and OJ has continued to make the FO look really smart for not trading him. I really like him this season; he seems to have found his swagger back and he's been so good for us lately.

Anyway, as I mentioned in the title, this ugly game was redeemed in the final 5 seconds. Rudy put up a difficult shot that I swore was going in (he has a knack for hitting low-percentage shots like that), but the ball bounced up only for Tony to tip it back in. With the last play of the game, David Lee attempted to just put his head down and go for, only to be called for the charge. I know there was some questions from the Warriors about whether it was a legit call, but I think the refs made the right call here. W: Grizzlies.