SAN FRANCISCO – One of the best parts of experiencing the Warriors’ 2022 championship run was the prospect of two away stadiums: Memphis and Dallas. The Grizzlies and Mavericks are turning back time and allowing media members to the sidelines for a completely different experience than usual.

As seen Sunday night at Chase Center, Mavs superstar Luka Doncic operates and dominates at his own pace. When the speed limit is 65 miles per hour, he drives at 40 miles per hour and still finishes first, securing a triple-double with 45 points along the way. Watching Ja Morant accelerate up and down the floor is a completely different viewing experience.

He zooms. He races. His only equipment is walking, especially a few years ago. Morant is Sonic the Hedgehog, using all 94 feet of length and 50 feet of width to collect his gold rings before finding his true prey and getting ready to take off with a poster dunk.

The Warriors have seen Doncic often in recent years since defeating him in the 2022 Western Conference Finals and have faced him seven times since then. Doncic missed a regular-season game against the Warriors in each of the last two seasons, but he has taken advantage on both occasions this season.

Since the rivalry between the Warriors and Grizzlies heated up in the second round of these playoffs, there hasn’t been much of a Ja Morant show. The spectacle finally returns on Thursday evening for the Warriors vs. Grizzlies showdown at FedExForum.

“He is healthy. That’s pretty much it. If he’s healthy, he’s yes,” Gary Payton II said Tuesday after the Warriors’ practice. “That’s all I can give you. When he’s healthy, he’s unpredictable. You’ll just have to strike first, I guess.”

Even though the Grizzlies lost two of their first three games to the Warriors in the 2022 playoffs, Morant literally did everything he could. Only 22 years old at the time, Morant posted a double-double with 34 points and 10 assists in Game 1, followed by 47 points in Game 2 and another 34 in Game 3. In three games, Morant averaged 38.3 points per game Game game on 50.6 percent shooting from the field and 43.3 percent on 3-pointers, 6.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 3.0 steals.

And he didn’t play another game for the rest of the series as the Warriors took care of business in six games.

A knee injury forced Morant to miss the final three games of the series. When the two teams met for the first time the next season and both Warriors won, Morant averaged 32.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 10 assists. But he was injured in the Grizzlies’ next two games against the Warriors this season, as well as in all three of the two teams’ games against each other last season and in their first game this season.

On Thursday night in Memphis, Morant will face the Warriors for the first time since the 2022-23 season on January 25, 2023. Steve Kerr knows his defense should be better prepared for Morant and a Memphis team that has won 10 of its last 12 games to hold onto the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

“He’s so explosive when he gets to the rim,” Kerr said Wednesday. “The first thing you have to do is protect him in transition. You can’t let him get to the edge and put the whole team under pressure. You have to build a wall in front of him, but they play five times and have 3-point shots everywhere. You have to build a wall and then from there you have to go back to the shooters.

“They put a lot of pressure on you.”

Golden State’s defense put no pressure on Doncic and Dallas to start Sunday’s game, a 143-133 shootout following a Warriors loss. The Mavs made their first nine shots. At the end of the first quarter, Doncic already had 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting. At halftime he had 28 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

Slow starts have hampered the Warriors all season. To be the defensive team they want to be and prevent Morant from keeping all of Memphis on its toes, the Warriors’ defense can’t be…defensive. They have to be the attackers and that is the message their sharpest players on this side are trying to convey.

“We have to do it together for 48 minutes from the jump,” Payton said. “Apply force, strike first. Some games we do, others we don’t. We have to keep practicing and keep getting out of the jump.

“Hit first. I think most of the time when we score first we put ourselves in a good position to control the game.”

Plus, there will be another wrinkle on Thursday night that may fan the flames of a rivalry that has somewhat died down. Dennis Schroder will make his Warriors debut and he will guard Morant multiple times, as will Payton and Andrew Wiggins.

Schroder’s final game with his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, was against Morant and the Grizzlies and ended with Schröder, Morant and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins getting into a verbal argument.

Prepare your popcorn. Every Warriors game against the Grizzlies is better when Morant is racing past the scoring table and getting the best of Golden State’s biggest rivals.

“He brings that level and that fight,” Payton said. “You have to bring it or you’ll get beaten up. We don’t want to be beaten up. He brings it, I bring it, it makes both of us better.

“It’ll be fun, you know what it is.”

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast