In a game with playoff stakes, Stephen Curry turned in a dynastic performance.
Curry scored 46 points, including 33 in the second half in a game that could propel them to a return to the playoffs. After the Grizzlies erased a 17 point lead, the Warriors led by just three with 3:39 remaining. Curry answered by draining three straight 3-pointers to go up 12 with 1:35 to go in Sunday’s 113-101 win at Chase Center and clinch the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament.
Both teams entering the game were tied in the standings and had split the first two games of the season. Sunday’s meeting would determine who got the more favorable position to make the playoffs.
The play-in tournament matches the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, with the winner claiming the No. 7 seed in the playoffs. The loser of that game plays the winner of the 9-10 matchup, with the winner taking the No. 8 seed. The play-in begins next week with Eastern Conference teams playing Tuesday and Thursday and Western Conference teams playing Wednesday and Friday. The playoffs start May 22.
Golden State will not know its opponent for Wednesday’s matchup until the final games of the regular season end Sunday night. It will face either the Los Angeles Lakers or Portland Trail Blazers.
But first, it had to take care of business Sunday, and now the Warriors are playing their best basketball of the season and take a six-game win streak into the play-in tournament.
Warriors players and coaches talked all week about the playoff atmosphere of these final games, and they looked like the more experienced team against a young Grizzlies group that kept it close for most of the game but was on the losing end of a pair of vintage Warriors runs.
The first run was punctuated by Curry’s 3-pointer with 2:44 to go in the third quarter. With the game seemingly broken open, Curry high-stepped to the sideline, his prized right arm still extended in the air after a 17-point flurry to put the Warriors up 16 and force a Grizzlies timeout.
But Memphis responded, getting 29 points and 16 rebounds from Jonas Valanciunas, 14 points and top-notch defense from Jaren Jackson Jr. and 18 points from Dillon Brooks, including nine in the fourth quarter, to even the score at 91 with 6:12 to go.
Brooks’ physical defense gave Curry fits for most of the game, as Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins mirrored his minutes with those of the scoring title champion. But with the score tied, Draymond Green smartly lured Brooks into a sixth foul at the top of the key. With Brooks fouled out, Curry’s most effective defender was off the floor. Curry’s back-to-back-to-back 3s crested a 22-8 run to close the game.
Despite having more bodies available, coach Steve Kerr elected to play only his best eight players that have powered this win streak. Jordan Poole had 15 points off the bench on 5 for 9 shooting, Juan Toscano-Anderson notched 11 points and Andrew Wiggins added 21 points on 9 for 16 shooting and 10 rebounds. Green finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, turning in a similarly vintage performance alongside Curry.
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