It felt like we watched that series for months. All the on- and off-court drama enveloped a uniquely physical, fervent series that was never not interesting.
By its end the Warriors, stifled and out of rhythm for most of the last three games, found a groove as Kevon Looney — yes, Kevon Looney — and others out-hustled the Grizzlies into an electrifying 110-96 win.
Put some respect on Kevon Looney’s name
Kevon Looney is one of those guys who can be sort of a meme when people praise him. That’s largely because he’s a 26-year-old with middle-aged YMCA vibes without much of an offensive game to speak of.
He doesn’t usually stuff the stat sheet, but almost always makes an impact in the subtle, yet significantly positive ways.
His ability to be sound defensively, typically without fouling, to set reliable screens and rebound make him a consistently useful player.
Friday was one of those nights when there was nothing subtle about his performance. Nothing meme- worthy. He was a force.
Without him, the Warriors absolutely lose this game. They were reckless with the ball and took ill-advised shots.
But Looney was there to clean up everything and make the Grizzlies uncomfortable every single time they took the ball into the post. Even when he was caught out on the perimeter, he was better than you’d expect.
You’d obviously like him to convert some of those tip-in opportunities from time to time, but against a Grizzlies team with so much size and athleticism, he snagged a career-high 22 rebounds, facilitated 5 assists — some of which were clever, back-cut dishes — along with 4 points and a block.
He split those rebounds evenly, with 11 on either end of the floor. His effort was by far the most impressive part of tonight’s game.
With less than three minutes to go, he won three-straight offensive possessions that put the Warriors up by 13, then rejected a shot defensively. He was unbelievable.
The Warriors out-rebounded the Grizzlies 25 to 10 offensively and 70 to 44 on the whole.
Those 70 rebounds, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, are the most of any team in the NBA this season.
Looney was the spark, fire and fuel for that.
Wiggins immense, Draymond Green wakes up
The other part of the Warriors’ physicality and key to the win came from Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green.
Wiggins’ defensive presence was dumbfoundingly effective, but he provided some key scores, too. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, a steal and 3 blocks.
The steal he secured late in the fourth quarter was the energetic moment that put the Warriors up 6, sent the building into a rapturous state, and pushed them to stretch the lead.
And then there was Draymond Green, who was poor for most of this series. He wasn’t overwhelmingly bad, but he slowed the offense down, had some treacherous turnovers and wasn’t even himself defensively.
There was some typical recklessness, too, on Friday. Given how he pushes the pace on the fast break, that’s going to happen. It’s the risk of how he does business.
But what was different is that with Looney in the lineup, it looked like he recognized the need to at least look at the hoop. All too often, he passes up wide open looks without even considering taking them. And to be sure, there was still some of that on hand.
Even with those eschewed looks, Green got involved offensively and nearly had a vintage triple-double with a 14-point, 15-rebound, 8-assist line. He was so much more himself and when Green is himself, the Warriors usually find positive results.
Game 6 Klay and a hat tip to Memphis
The legend of Game 6 Klay came to life on Friday night. With Stephen Curry looking exhausted until the fourth — and still finishing with 29 points (on 10-of-27 shooting), plus 7 rebounds and 5 assists — and Jordan Poole putting up another stinker (12 points on 4-of-15 shooting), Thompson carried the Warriors mantle in another crucial Game 6 performance.
Now, the stakes were probably lower than the four other stellar Game 6s he’d had in the past:
- 41 points against Oklahoma City in the 2016 Western Conference Finals
- 35 points against Houston the 2018 Western Conference Finals
- 27 against Houston again in the 2019 West Finals
- The infamous 30-point Game 6 against Toronto in the 2019 NBA Finals.
But no one would be telling the truth if they said they felt comfortable about the Warriors taking a Game 7 back in Memphis. There were some serious stakes at hand.
Thompson helped the Warriors avoid that fate. He didn’t even need to do much late on offense because of how effective he was early.
He had 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting, 8-of-14 from deep and 8 rebounds, 3 blocks and a couple assists. His rebounding and defensive effort — aside from being caught out by a few back cuts — were also massive.
That was all necessary because the Grizzlies were so hard to put away.
Given how they played in these last three games, there’s even a galaxy-brained Ewing theory argument to be made that they are better with Ja Morant.
At the very least, without Morant, Memphis is a little less predictable and leans on their length, defensive aggression and physicality.
The ignominious Dillon Brooks, who picked up another flagrant for a shove in the back on Stephen Curry, chucked and chucked until he had 30 points on 28 shots.
Desmond Bane added 25 for Memphis, too, on a much more efficient 16 shots.
But even with that chucking, the effort from the Grizzlies defensively and without their star player is commendable. That’s despite all the jawing and bad blood that developed in this series, including a pair of technicals for Brooks and Thompson.
Memphis required Golden State to battle, and they obliged, making the win a little bit sweeter for them.
