The Golden States Warriors may have missed out on the seventh Western Conference seed after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers, but they will have another opportunity to make it to the playoffs. To do this, Stephen Curry's side will have to beat the Memphis Grizzlies in their second play-in game on Friday night and secure the eighth position.
Memphis put in a solid display against the San Antonio Spurs, whom they managed to beat 100-96 on Wednesday night in the play-in game between the Western Conference's team with the ninth-highest winning percentage (Grizzlies) and the one with the 10-highest winning percentage (Spurs) in the regular season.
Disappointed but confident
After their defeat to LeBron James' Lakers, Curry expressed his frustration at the result, but stressed that his team will do what it takes to make it to the playoffs after missing out on post-season last year.
"We'll be ready," noted Curry. "Right now, it sucks. We played pretty well tonight. I missed this type of environment. It was a lot of fun -- high intensity, high competitive level.
"It had been almost two years since the Finals that we were here in a game that had those type of consequences.
"It's what you live for. It's what you work so hard for. It brings out the best in you in terms of your competitiveness and all that. I love it. So, we can run it back Friday and, hopefully, all next week."
A motivated Grizzlies side
To make the playoffs, the Warriors will have beat the Grizzlies, who are considered as the underdogs in this tie. After their win over the Spurs, the Grizzlies shooting guard Dillon Brooks declared that the label of the dark horses is exactly what motivates his team.
"We get fired up over those little underdog [labels] or whatever," declared Brooks.
"We're just going to be ready to come to play and play our game. If we play our game to the best of our ability and guys just do a little bit extra than what they've been doing, we'll be fine.
"We're going to bring the intensity and bring the energy, because we've got a goal in mind. I know from the beginning of the year, everybody was bought into that goal, and we're all locked in."
The winner of the duel between the Warriors and Grizzlies will clinch qualification to the playoffs, where they will face first-place Utah Jazz.
Curry's second chance to lead the Warriors to the playoffs - MARCA.com
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment