Curry, Green held no field goal; Grizzlies destroy Warriors

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — By the time Jake LaRavia hit a 3-pointer to give the Grizzlies an eye-popping 123-66 lead early in the fourth quarter Thursday night, the nights for Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were long over.

The Golden State Warriors had such a brutal and humiliating night that their two stars didn’t even realize they had missed a field goal in a game together for the first time in their careers as Memphis rolled to a 144-93 victory — the biggest in the NBA this season — at the FedEx Forum.

The Grizzlies, winners of 11 of their last 13 games, suffocated Curry to just two points and 0-for-7 shooting, including 0-for-6 from 3-point range. It was Curry’s most field goal attempts and most minutes (24) without a mark in his 16-year career.

Green went scoreless, missing all four of his shots in 19 minutes.

“Hell, it happens,” Green said after learning he and Curry didn’t make a field goal in a game together for the first time. “Oh s—. That’s crazy … they did a great job. Give them some credit.”

Frustrated by foul trouble, the 13-year veteran was a shocking minus-42 and Curry was a minus-41.

“First time for everything, right?” Curry said. “I never thought it was going to be a situation or a result of the game. From the jump, they kind of punched us in the mouth. We had no answer.

“… It was kind of embarrassing.”

Golden State (14-12) has now lost nine of its last 11 games after a 12-3 start. Three of those losses have come by four points or fewer after the Warriors struggled to score down the stretch. But in this one they looked overmatched almost from the start.

The Grizzlies opened with a 13-2 lead and kept adding. The Warriors trailed by 31 points at the half and then by 46 when coach Steve Kerr pulled his starters with 5:09 left in the third quarter.

Memphis made a franchise record 27 3-pointers and defensively stifled Golden State.

“It was just a humbling night all around,” Kerr said. “I mean, they took it to us. They were great. We just couldn’t get anything going.

“… You lose by 51. It’s humbling. So what I know about this team, this is the second time we’ve been blown out. We got blown out in Cleveland early in the season, so I know who we are. I know what our team is about. I know we have competitors and we’re going to regroup, so I’m not worried about the work to do.”

Despite the massive loss, the Warriors locker room was not destroyed. Kerr, Curry and Green all said they remain confident the team is good enough to rebound.

“I expect us to respond,” Green said of the Warriors’ next game at Minnesota on Saturday.

Newly acquired Dennis Schroder started in his debut Thursday, with Kerr moving Jonathan Kuminga to the second unit after the power forward started the previous six games. Kerr opted to start Green and Kevon Looney to set a defensive tone from the start, but that didn’t happen.

Schroder shot just 2-for-12 and finished with 5 points and 5 assists. But as Green pointed out, Schroder wasn’t to blame for this loss.

It marked the Warriors’ third 50-point loss under Kerr and second this calendar year (140-88 at Boston on March 3).

“It was tough, too,” Curry said. “(But) I like the atmosphere (around the team) better right now.

“We keep saying it because I genuinely believe it – we’re better than what we’ve played. We’re better than what we showed tonight. The atmosphere is much better. It’s nice to say that, but you got to do something about it and i feel like we can just wait and see.