Overconfident Warriors Got Whooped, Lost Momentum Heading Into Game 6

The Golden State Warriors poked the bear, got thrown around like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, and now they're on the verge of fighting for their playoff lives.

This is what happens when you have a chance to close out a series in five games, but instead, let your swag get the best of you.

Wednesday night in Memphis, and instead of getting some time off while waiting for the winner of the Suns Mavs series, Steph Curry and Co. found themselves caught off guard and overconfident, and now these young and fearless Grizzlies smell blood heading into Game 6, and gave all of us the green light to use horrible bear puns relentlessly.

In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea for Curry to use the whole "Whoop that Trick" promise when asked what their plan would be for Game 5. The analogy was great sure, referencing a song from the 2005 Terrance Howard movie based on an aspiring rapper in Memphis, but all it did was hype everyone in the entire city up, and they sure let the Warriors hear about it late in the game.

Forget the embarrassing loss and complete humiliation in Memphis though, because the Warriors aren't just going to roll over with the way that went down, or at least they better not. Good for the Grizzlies taking full advantage of the situation at home, but let's not forget Golden State did still whoop them by 30 in Game 3.

That's the energy this Golden State team better harness if they don't want to find themselves in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night.

The issue for the Warriors in this series has been their slow starts and it's glaring. The Grizzlies have won every single first quarter so far, outscoring Golden State on average 31.0-24.6 points in the first frame. Golden State has also shot just 23.4 percent from 3 in the first quarter, while Memphis comes in at over 42 percent.

That's a pretty strong trend if you want to lean into a first-quarter cover for Memphis by the way.

The Warriors have the experience, championship pedigree, and talent to not only win this series, but get back to the NBA Finals.

The problem here is, this young Grizzlies team doesn't care and now has more confidence than they've ever had at the most pivotal time for both teams.

If the Warriors don't put this thing away Friday night, they're facing a Game 7 on the road in Memphis, and a possible blown 3-1 lead the internet will never let them forget.

Oh, and probably more bad bear puns too.

Check out BetQL's best bets for the game below: