The Memphis Grizzlies had to have been encouraged by their first-half output.

In their first road game of the season, they went toe-to-toe with the Golden State Warriors. Both teams traded long runs, and the Grizzlies looked like they belonged.

Then the second half happened.

Memphis fell behind by as many as 21 points after a Warriors 11-0 run. Golden State’s shooting avalanche continued and the Grizzlies’ offense from the first half was nowhere to be found as they lost 131-118 at the Chase Center.

Here’s what went wrong for the Grizzlies on Oct. 27 in San Francisco.

3-point shooting struggles

The Grizzlies’ 3-point shooting hasn’t been good to start the season. That issue has flown somewhat under the radar. But shooting problems are more evident when playing a team like the Warriors.

Golden State knocked down 19 3-pointers, while Memphis shot 12-for-39 from 3-point range.

This may be the area that has been most affected by injuries. Scotty Pippen Jr. and Ty Jerome both shot above 40% on 3-pointers last season. The Grizzlies are missing them.

Jaylen Wells and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are two shooters Memphis needs more from. They combined to make 1 of 7 attempts from 3-point range.

Not enough from the stars

Fair or not, the Grizzlies need Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. to be amazing. Memphis doesn’t have much proven depth. The two All-Stars must carry heavy loads, and neither player was at his best against Golden State.

Morant finished with 23 points and nine assists, but he shot 8-for-23 (0-for-6 on 3-pointers) and did not have a strong defensive showing.

Jackson ended the night with 16 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes.

The mental battle

Memphis had a chance to swing the momentum, or at least show Golden State that it had a fight on its hands the rest of the way.

With the Grizzlies down 13 points in the third quarter and 3:48 left, Warriors star Draymond Green committed a flagrant foul on Santi Aldama after a windup and pulling him down on a layup attempt. Technical fouls were given to Green and Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo.

Aldama proceeded to miss both free throws, then Jackson fouled Moses Moody taking a 3-pointer. Those moments seemed to suck the air out of any comeback hopes.

Green’s antics resulted in the Grizzlies lying down rather than becoming a spark that could energize them for the fourth quarter.

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.