Warriors defeated Grizzlies 116-103 without Steph Curry

No, Steph, no problem.

The Golden State Warriors were tasked with playing a road game on Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies team, without the face of their franchise, Steph Curry. And, by the way, without two of your top bankers, James Wiseman and Eric Paschall.

They were ready for the task. And then some.

The final score did not end up being indicative of the game – the Dubs won by just 13, with a cross of 116-103. It wasn’t that close, as Golden State spent most of the night either earning 20 or more points, or knocking on the door. They had a 19-point lead at halftime, increased to 25 in the third quarter and never seemed to risk losing it.

So how did warriors with little manpower get the job done so emphatically?

It all started with a stellar two-wing game that, if played regularly, could catapult the team to a new level.

Andrew Wiggins had his best performance since wearing a Dubs shirt, reaching the record for the season with 40 points from a 14 out of 24 shot, including 6 into an 11 shot. He was the best goal option of the team throughout the night and also contributed with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, without committing a foul.

And then there was Jordan Poole. Poole continued his post-G League tear, with 25 points from 10 out of 15 shots, including 3 out of 6 from a distance. His game was on display, even though he ended up with just 2 assists, and he didn’t turn the ball once.

These were the catalysts, but they were far from the only stories. Damion Lee and Kevon Looney had season records in the scoring department, with 21 and 11, respectively, and Draymond Green had a line of statistics that was almost satirical for being so Draymondian: 2 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, +24.

The ball moved, even without Curry’s gravity, with the team gaining 31 assists for just 13 turns. The defense was dynamic, forcing 20 turnovers, allowing only 11 points for fastbreak and holding Memphis to a mere 72 points in three quarters.

But perhaps the most inspiring is that nothing the Warriors did seemed unsustainable. Sure, you can’t count on 65 Wiggins and Poole points every night, but usually when a team overcomes it’s because they did something unrepeatable, like shooting 60% from a three point distance, or hilarious at your opponent. The warriors did not do that. They shot only 36.6% of the depths. They were overcome and gave up more free throws than they shot.

They just played a solid attack and an even more solid defense, and spent most of the 48 minutes making the right decisions. They were simply the best basketball team, and that was not supported by anything fleeting.

This bodes well for Saturday’s game, which is against, you guessed it … the Grizzlies.

I’ve never been so happy to look (mostly) bad.

Strange things do happen in the NBA. Sometimes, they are also cool.