Late 4th quarter collapse dooms Warriors in home opener

SAN FRANCISCO — A veteran team usually is able to close out a young and inexperienced team late in crunch time.

That wasn't the case in the Golden State Warriors home opener. Down by 12 points with 3:47 remaining in the game, the hungry and upcoming Memphis Grizzlies closed out the fourth quarter with a 17-2 run to defeat the Warriors 111-108 on Friday evening at Chase Center.

A stunned sold out crowd on 3rd and 16th were helpless to watch their team collapse and blow a double-digit lead when Golden State had held Memphis to just 10 points with a little over four minute remaning as the Griz ended up with 27 points in the final quarter to send the Dubs to an 0-2 start to begin the regular season.

“I think like eight different things had to happen," said a frustrated Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. "I think any one of those eight doesn't happen. I think we win the game. It was just an avalanche. I didn't think it was mistakes that we made, the ball just didn't go in for one thing. We missed three or four shots that we probably normally make. BP (Brandin Podziemski) makes a great deflection up four I think. We just had a terrible break on the loose ball where he and Melt (De’Anthony Melton) both went after it and it caroms right to Ty Jerome for the three. Give them credit, they did a great job of defending us."

The Warriors went 0-for-5 with two turnovers and couldn't stop fouling the Grizzlies on the opposite end of the floor as the factors that allowed the visiting team to keep creeping back in the game. Rookie foward Cameron Boozer, the son of former NBA power forward Carlos Boozer, gave the Griz a 108-106 lead with 20.1 seconds left on the clock when he buried a turn around nine-footer from just outside the paint.

“Yeah, he was on right from the get-go," said Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo refeering to rookie forward. "I think him not knocking down shots in a couple of games led to them giving him a little bit of open space and he obviously started, I think, going three-for-three and was feeling good and overall a high-level rookie matchup. And Booze (Boozer) just does it all. I keep repeating that after every game, but no matter which role he’s in and in transition and he’s relentless. It doesn’t really seem like he had our highest minutes tonight and he seems to be able to push through it without any sign of fatigue. Now any sign of fatigue doesn’t equal that he doesn’t have fatigue though so we’ve got to be smart there, but he found the right notes in the end too.”

On the ensuing possession power forward Draymond Green was called for a moving screen as he set a pick for point guard Stephen Curry with 12.8 remaining for the second turnover down the stretch. Warriors head coach was insensed with the call and was rewarded with a technical foul from the officiating crew. According to Kerr it was the sixth time his team turned the ball over on a set pick, which he believed were not moving screens, especially the last one on Green that decided the outcome of the game.

Despite the dubious call from the referees, Golden State did everything in its power to lose a game it was in control of since they overcame a 84-72 deficit in the third quarter with with a 16-0 run of their own in the final five and a half minutes of the quarter as they entered the fourth quarter with a 90-84 lead. The Warriors outscored the Grizzlies 34-24.

Former Warriors guard Ty Jerome has found a rebirth with some of that Southern BBQ as he had 45 points in the season opener against the Utah Jazz in help the Griz defeat the Jazz 123-103. Tonight he led the team again in points with 28 shooting 50 percent from the floor (11-for-22), including his third 3-pointer of the game to cut the deficit to 106-105 with 1:24 remaning in the game.

Boozer finished with an equally impressive game with 25 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, to go along with his 13 rebound and six assits. Boozer finished a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Jaylen Wells chipped with 17 points while Cam Spencer had 11 points off of the bench.

Curry led the Warriors with 24 points despite a poor night shooting the basketball as Memphis did a good job containing the greatest shooter on the planet to just 5-for-15 shooting. The impressive part of Curry's night was going 11-for-11 from the free throw line. Historically it has been a rare occurrance when Curry has had double-digit attempts from the charity stripe.

Rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg contributed 18 points in just his second game as a professional basketball player and his first double-double of his career with 13 rebounds to go along with his six assists and 9-for-12 shooting at the free throw line. Shooting guard Brandin Podziemski made his season debut after missing the opening game against the Los Angeles Lakers with back soreness. Podz also had 18 points but on 7-of-17 shooting from the field to go along with four turnovers.

For Curry and his teammates, they don't have time to stew of the sting of this loss as they travel to Phoenix and prepare to play the Suns with the back end of the team's first back-to-back games this season.

“Every game is important, you just said it," Curry said. "Especially a home opener, after the way that L.A. went, you wanted to bounce back and have a good performance, and get a win before a road trip. There’s losses and then there’s ways like tonight that you lose that kind of sting a little bit more. The nature of the NBA, everybody says it, there’s another game tomorrow, but the idea of how important every game is for us to build the right habits, the right execution, mentality to try and win, and the fact that you gave one away like this. You might lose a little bit of sleep over it tonight but try to bounce back tomorrow.”