{"id":512459,"date":"2026-01-02T20:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T20:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512459\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T20:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T20:25:11","slug":"deanthony-melton-reveals-lessons-learned-playing-warriors-in-2022-nba-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/512459\/","title":{"rendered":"De’Anthony Melton reveals lessons learned playing Warriors in 2022 NBA playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

De’Anthony Melton reveals lessons learned playing Warriors in 2022 NBA playoffs<\/a> originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area<\/a><\/p>\n

Before he joined forces in Golden State,\u00a0Warriors\u00a0guard De\u2019Anthony Melton<\/a> was on the other side of a heated matchup with\u00a0the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

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In 2022,\u00a0Melton was a key bench player for the Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals against the Warriors.<\/p>\n

Speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area\u2019s Monte Poole and Bonta Hill on \u201cDubs Talk,\u201d Melton said\u00a0the\u00a0feverish\u00a0series was a learning experience for him\u00a0and the Grizzlies alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, we wanted to kill [the] dynasty so bad,\u201d Melton said. \u201cLike, you had to come and show us and understand like \u2014 why are y\u2019all so good? Why [are] y\u2019all so great?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe not [going to] just lay down and let you tell us why, but like, you\u00a0got to come in here and get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second-seeded Grizzlies were having a breakout season, led by star-in-the-making Ja Morant.\u00a0Their 56-win total tied the franchise record for most wins in a season.<\/p>\n

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They were brimming with confidence, and rightfully so.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really felt like day in and day out, game in and game out \u2014 we just take it game by game, you never know what could happen\u2026\u201d Melton explained. \u201c\u2026 We just erred on the side of \u2013 come show us. Like, see who really wants to play today, because we got 10 deep that want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0like \u2013 how bad do y\u2019all want to\u00a0play.\u00a0Some got family, some got kids, they got paid, they paid up already.\u00a0But like, we [were] all young and hungry, so come on with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But\u00a0Melton and the Grizzlies learned what a Steph Curry-led Warriors team can do. The Warriors went on to win the series in six games.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0hard to win. And I mean, in 2022, no one thought the Warriors were going to go on to win,\u201d Melton recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0just crazy, seeing them having to go through us and that would be one of their tougher series.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was indeed one of the\u00a0toughest\u00a0series in Golden State\u2019s championship run. The only other series that went longer than five games was the Finals against the Boston Celtics, which the Warriors won in six games as well.<\/p>\n

Despite Melton\u2019s effectiveness in the series,\u00a0Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins did not\u00a0utilize\u00a0him consistently throughout the series.\u00a0Melton says he should have seen much more of the court, and his limited use led to his departure\u00a0from the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that my impact on the series could have been a lot more. Even if\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not from scoring \u2013 even though I was scoring\u00a0pretty well\u00a0that series \u2013 just how I felt defensively, and how I felt knowing the offense that we [were] going against, the players I was guarding,\u201d Melton explained. \u201cI thought I was doing\u00a0a good job\u00a0on Steph, and I felt like I was doing\u00a0a great job\u00a0on [Jordan Poole]. So, I feel like I should have been a little extended in that time and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what led to me\u00a0ultimately not\u00a0being there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Melton was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in the following offseason. He signed with the Warriors once that contract expired and became a free agent.<\/p>\n

If the Warriors are to make a playoff run, Melton\u2019s experience against the team in 2022 could prove useful for Steve Kerr.<\/p>\n

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"De’Anthony Melton reveals lessons learned playing Warriors in 2022 NBA playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,75,13375,479,178,2771,16217,177,6,11,207,380,181,859],"class_list":["post-512459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba-playoffs","tag-basketball","tag-boston-celtics","tag-deanthony-melton","tag-golden-state","tag-ja-morant","tag-jordan-poole","tag-melton","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-nba","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-steph","tag-the-grizzlies","tag-the-warriors"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115827384241521582","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}