The Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors will play for the NBA Summer League title after each won semifinal games on Saturday in Las Vegas, setting up a matchup between two teams with recent winning history in the event.
For readers following Warriors Summer League, the reason this game matters now is simple: Sunday’s final decides who leaves Las Vegas with the NBA Summer League title, and both teams arrived there by winning in different ways. Memphis rolled past the Houston Rockets behind Cedric Coward and Cameron Boozer, while Golden State advanced with a more balanced effort against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Coward was the headline act for Memphis, scoring 28 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Boozer finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, and Javon Small added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists as part of a Grizzlies attack that sent three other players into double figures. That kind of depth is why Memphis has been framed as the favorite, even before the championship game tipped.
Golden State, though, did not reach the final by leaning on one scorer. Yaxel Lendeborg scored 15 points, Graham Ike posted 16 points and 11 rebounds, and LJ Cryer made 12 of his 16 points from beyond the arc. That spread of production gave the Warriors enough to get past the Lakers and keep the title game from becoming a one-man showcase.
There is also history behind this matchup. Memphis and Golden State were both playing for their second-ever Las Vegas Summer League title, with the Warriors last winning in 2013 and the Grizzlies taking the crown in 2019. That makes Sunday’s game more than just another exhibition finish; it is a chance for one of the two Western Conference teams to add a second mark on a short but meaningful list.
The part that keeps Memphis in front is not just the numbers from Saturday, but the way Coward, Boozer and Small have carried the Grizzlies together. Golden State has enough balance and enough size to make that uncomfortable, though, and Lendeborg gives the Warriors a paint presence that can tilt a game that should be decided by execution more than reputation. The title will go to the team that turns Saturday’s surge into one more clean performance when the championship game arrives on Sunday.
