Two teams adapting to life without their star point guard try out their new look on one another Monday night when the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors duel in San Francisco.
Memphis’ Ja Morant is expected to miss a 10th straight game because of an elbow injury, and Golden State’s Stephen Curry has been ruled out of a fourth in a row due to a sore knee when the Western Conference clubs meet for a second time this season.
Both Morant and Curry were in action when the Warriors beat the Grizzlies 131-118 in San Francisco in October. Morant outscored Curry 23-16 in defeat.
Several front-line performers from the earlier meeting also will be missing for the mismatch.
Jonathan Kuminga was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points and Jimmy Butler III chipped in with 20 for the Warriors to help overcome Curry’s relatively low production in the October win.
Kuminga was traded last week to Atlanta along with Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis, who also will be sidelined Monday with Achilles tendinitis. Butler, meanwhile, was lost for the season to an ACL injury last month.
As Warriors fans await a first look at their intriguing new big man, Golden State coach Steve Kerr disclosed over the weekend that Porzingis will miss both remaining games before the All-Star break. The Warriors will also host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, then not play again until the Boston Celtics — one of Porzingis’ former teams — visit on Feb. 19.
“I saw (Porzingis) at the hotel and had a good chat,” Kerr said leading into the Warriors’ 105-99 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night. “He’s excited; we’re excited. The plan is he’ll (work out in San Francisco) all of All-Star break, and he’ll play after the break.”
The Warriors have gone 3-6 since losing Butler. They’ve dropped two of three without Curry, held below 100 points twice as Brandin Podziemski (one) and Pat Spencer (two) have gotten starts.
Scoring hasn’t been an issue of late for the Grizzlies despite going without not only Morant but also Jaren Jackson Jr., Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. the last three games after they were dealt to Utah for four players and three first-round picks.
In running up an average of 119.7 points in the three games since the trade, including 115 in each of two losses at Portland on Friday and Saturday, the Grizzlies have given 10 different players starts, including Cam Spencer, the younger brother of the Warriors’ Pat.
Pat Spencer, who is in his third NBA season, and brother Cam, currently in his second, have gone head-to-head just twice after taking different routes to pro ball.
Cam Spencer, who won a national championship at UConn in 2024, has outscored his brother 18-2 in their matchups, each of which was won by the Warriors.
Pat Spencer played only one year of college basketball — at Northwestern — after exhausting his first four years of collegiate eligibility as an All-American lacrosse player at Loyola (Md.)
He had his two-way contract restructured into a full-season deal this week in the wake of the Kuminga trade.
It might not be Morant vs. Curry, but Cam Spencer assures his lifelong duels with his brother have tended to be entertaining.
“We’re the biggest competitors when we’re going against each other,” he said recently. “But when we’re watching, we have each other’s back and we’re each other’s biggest fans.”
