There will be no love lost as the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies duke it out in the 2025 NBA play-in tournament, Wednesday, April 16 with the West seventh seed on the line.
Steph & the Warriors host Ja & the Grizzlies in the #SoFiPlayIn 🍿
— NBA (@NBA) April 13, 2025
West #7 and a series against the West #2 Rockets are up for grabs when these two star-studded teams face off!
Tuesday, 4/15 at 10:00pm/et on TNT!
Whichever team will come out on top gets to arrange a playoff opening-round showdown with the second-ranked Houston Rockets. The loser, however, still has one shot of advancing to the playoffs in playing the victor of the Sacramento Kings-Dallas Mavericks clash.
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Both the Warriors and the Grizzlies share a history in the last four years, ranging from memorable showdowns either in the play-in or the playoffs.
Memphis ended Golden State’s season in 2021 back in the play-in stage. But the Warriors got their revenge a season later, booting out the Grizzlies in the West semifinals in six games en route to winning their fourth title in franchise history.
However, Golden State has not found much success in the play-in tournament after going 0-3 all-time, including a disappointing 118-94 loss to the Kings last year.
Despite acquiring superstar Jimmy Butler ahead of the trade deadline and going 23-7 the rest of the way, the Warriors fell short of a West top-six finish and a guaranteed playoff spot.
That is after Golden State absorbed a stingy 124-119 loss to the LA Clippers in their final regular season game.
Still, the Warriors will rely on superstar Steph Curry — who’s also looking for his first career play-in win — and Butler, who had quite a success with the tournament during his time with the Miami Heat.
As for the Grizzlies, it’s a chance to put behind a once promising but eventually problematic regular season that saw them stumble through the last three months.
Memphis peaked during early February of this year, sitting second in the West at that point behind a 35-16 record.
However, the Grizzlies lost 18 of their last 31 games that led to the dismissal of long-time head coach Taylor Jenkings as Tuomas Iisalo took over the job in an interim capacity.
[ALSO READ: In a shock move, Grizzlies dismiss Taylor Jenkins with the playoffs looming]
Star guard Ja Morant missed 32 games but still averaged a team-high 23.2 points per game. His co-stars in Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond missed a combined 21 games for a team who is aiming to return to playoffs after missing out last year.
The Warriors won their regular season series over the Grizzlies, 3-1. One of those victories came where Stephen Curry erupted for 52 points and 12 threes in a 134-125 dub in Memphis.
[ALSO READ: Stephen Curry uncorks 52 as Warriors overtake Grizzlies for West no. 5]
