In Curry's Game 4 show, it may have been the shoes

SAN FRANCISCO >> All eyes were on Steph Curry's feet in the hours prior to Game4. Anyone watching his dazzling 43-point performance in the Warriors' win might've forgotten his status was in limbo after a foot injury late in Game 3.

Maybe a lucky pair of his signature shoes did some magic.

Curry wore the same lavender Curry Brand Under Armor shoes for Game 4 that he wore for two key games against the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference semifinals. When he's wearing those shoes, the Warriors are 3-0.

With the Warriors trying to avoid losing both road games and falling into a 3-1 hole in a hostile TD Garden, it seemed the shoe choice could have been intentional. But Curry was surprised to hear he was undefeated in the purple sneakers.

“I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,” Curry said when asked about the 3-0 record in lavender. “I don't know if that messes with the juju on there if I'm aware of the record now. I've got a lot of different colors, so we'll see. We'll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.”

A purple shoe-clad Curry scored 30 points in the Warriors' Game 3 win against Memphis at Chase Center, giving Golden State a 2-1 series lead. In Game 4 two days later, he wore a pair of signature shoes honoring late TNT broadcaster Craig Sager. But after starting 1 for 6 from 3 in the first half with 11 points, Curry switched back into the lavender shoes and propelled a 101-98 win to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

“Just understand we've been here before,” Curry said at the time about the shoe shakeup. “Whether we won or lost, the intentions of how we could give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter was all we focused on and then got it done. Shock the system a little bit.”

GREEN AFTERMATH >> Draymond Green wasn't thrilled with the fourth-quarter benching in Game 4, but asserted on his podcast he understood why coach Steve Kerr made the choice to switch him and Jordan Poole for a handful of defensive/offensive possessions.

Green, offensively, is sometimes a non-factor against this athletic and long Celtics defense, but he's necessary to coordinate defensive stops. With Kevon Looney playing a strong game, the decision to switch in Poole for offensive possessions allowed the Warriors to create more spacing and combat Boston's shot-blocking and congestion in the paint, Kerr said.

Kerr didn't need to explain the decision at the time, Green said on the podcast, and Kerr said Sunday there's no need for a followup conversation, either.

“Nope. Draymond is Draymond,” Kerr said. “He's going to bring it every night. I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.

“Everybody is locked in on his scoring. Scoring has always been kind of the last thing that we need from him. We need his defense, his energy, his force, his competitiveness. Down the stretch of the game, he made huge plays at both ends.”

Said Green: “I think I made an impact on the game the whole game. I think you can get caught up in everything that's going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don't think there was a switch last couple minutes.”