Tony Allen Is a Damn Good Defender, and He Let Every Golden State Warrior Know It
"First Team All Defense."
We don't know exactly how many times Tony Allen made that pronouncement about himself during Tuesday night's Grizzlies win over the top-seeded Warriors -- at least six, judging from the above video. Luckily for us, Allen was mic'd up all game, granting viewers the pleasure of hearing him remind the Warriors at every opportunity that he has made the the NBA's All-Defensive First Team multiple times. (The 2014-15 edition has not been announced yet, but maybe Allen knows something we don't.)
In case you missed it, Memphis topped Golden State in surprisingly easy fashion, 97-90. The win was on the Warriors' home court, something only two other teams had managed to do all year. Along with Allen's memorable theatrics, the game was notable for the return of Grizzlies' point guard Mike Conley, following surgery resulting from an elbow to the face in their previous series against the Trail Blazers. Conley wore a protective mask, which didn't prevent him from notching a game-high 22 points
It's been a while since Rasheed Wallace launched a "Ball don't lie!" outburst, but we think Allen may have coined the next great NBA catchphrase. His absolute dominance over the Warriors, especially Klay Thompson (6-15 shooting, including just 1-6 on threes), backs up his claims too, though we'd be a bit wary of giving recently crowned MVP Steph Curry any additional motivation. The Grizzlies' task of knocking off the favored Warriors is imposing enough already.