Thompson’s late heroics blazes Warriors past Grizzlies, 106-94
OAKLAND – The Warriors took a big step forward in securing a home- court advantage in the playoffs with yet another offensive surge in the second half, keyed by a stifling defense.
More importantly, Golden State put some more distance between itself and a possible first-round matchup against Memphis – one of only two teams to have beaten coach Steve Kerr’s squad more than once this season.
Klay Thompson scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half and the Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Grizzlies, 106-94, on Sunday for their seventh straight win.
‘’ We just picked up our intensity,’’ Kerr said. ‘’Most of the second half, I thought our defense was much better. That fueled our offense a little bit. When we can get stops and get out and run and hit a couple of 3-pointers, that really gives our team a good charge.’’
Stephen Curry added 21 points and 11 assists, Andre Iguodala scored 20 and Draymond Green had nine points and seven rebounds as the Warriors (59-14) extended their lead to 2 1/2 games over the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the top spot in the West.
The win did more than keep Golden State in front of San Antonio. It also kicked off a stretch of five games in eight days when the Warriors will face playoff contenders Houston (twice), San Antonio and Washington.
‘’At this point in the season and the playoff teams that we have coming up, it gets you into that focus mode,’’ Curry said. ‘’It’s a good warmup for us to understand how important each game is, each possession is, and not look ahead. That’s playoff mentality.’’
‘’ We did a great job of running them off the 3-point line, helping out on Z- Bo ( Randolph) in the post and flying around,’’ Thompson said. ( AP)