Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Grizzlies: Stifling Defense Keys Comeback

The Golden State Warriors (29-25) completed a furious comeback with a thrilling 114-113 win over the Memphis Grizzlies (20-32) on Monday at Chase Center.

Gui Santos made what proved to be the game-winning basket with 19.4 seconds to go, and the Warriors got one more stop to seal the victory.

The Warriors got balanced scoring from Pat Spencer (17 points), Santos (16), Al Horford (16), Brandin Podziemski (16), Moses Moody (15) and Draymond Green (14). Ty Jerome led the Grizzlies with 19 points.

Here are three takeaways from Monday's game.

Stifling Defense Keys Comeback

The Warriors trailed 108-95 with 8:23 to go. From there, they allowed just five points for the rest of the game.

Somewhat surprisingly, Green was not on the court for a second of the late defensive masterclass.

Horford and Santos led the charge, but the Warriors also got great defensive contributions from Gary Payton II, De'Anthony Melton, Podz and Moody.

The Grizzlies didn't score a point in the last 4:13, as the Warriors closed the game on an 11-0 run.

Two games ago, Golden State held the Suns to two points in the last 7:19, finishing the game on a 17-2 run.

Ironically, up until the last few games, the Warriors were one of the worst defensive teams in clutch games. But now it's clear that when they go to lineups with Santos and Horford and some combination of Melton, Moody, Payton and Podz, they can shut down opposing offenses.

Can the Warriors keep up this level of defense when Stephen Curry returns from his knee injury after the All-Star break? It's hard to say.

But if they can, they will keep this season afloat.

Horford Has Plenty in the Tank at 39 Years Old

Horford was the MVP of this game.

In 26 minutes, he had 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists, one steal and zero turnovers.

Overall, the Warriors had 23 turnovers, and at times it seemed like every offensive idea they had would lead to a turnover—except when they gave the ball to Horford in the post.

Horford was rarely used as an offensive hub in Boston. My guess is he'd even prefer to play more stretch 5 so he can shoot threes and attack closeouts.

But he's shown over the last few games that he can still score on post-ups, which has been a godsend for the Warriors.

Dray's Turnover Problem Is Worse Than It Seems

Green had seven turnovers against the Grizzlies and finished a team-worst minus-17.

This has been a problem all season.

Entering Monday, Green was tied for ninth in the league in turnovers per 36 minutes.

Here is a table of the 10 players who entered Monday averaging at least 3.6 turnovers per 36 minutes:

Per-36 Stats

	PPG	APG	Combined	Turnovers
L. Doncic	33.3	8.7	42.0	4.3
R. Westbrook	18.7	8.2	26.9	4.2
D. Avdija	26.5	6.9	33.4	4.1
S. Castle	20.0	8.2	28.2	4.1
L. Ball	25.0	9.8	34.8	4.0
C. Cunningham	25.9	10.0	35.9	3.8
J. Brown	30.8	4.9	35.7	3.8
J. Harden	25.8	8.3	34.1	3.7
D. Green	11.2	6.9	18.1	3.6
S. Sharpe	25.6	3.2	28.8	3.6

Every player on this list averages at least 28.2 points and assists combined per 36 minutes. Green averages just 18.1.

The point here is players who are elite at scoring and creating offense deserve some grace when they turn it over. Meanwhile, players who average, say, 8.3 points and 5.2 assists per game should not be turning it over much.

Green has to solve this issue. Otherwise, he won't be a positive-value player anymore.