Jo Morant and Grizzlies push Warriors to the edge
Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies have shown they can finish fourth quarters this post-season.
Well, the Golden State Warriors have been doing this for years, with the championships to prove it.
Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 36s left, and the Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s first-half ejection to edge the Grizzlies 117-116 yesterday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semis.
“The core, we’ve got championship DNA, and we wanted to utilise that,” Stephen Curry said. “At this stage, that’s what it’s all about. Never let go of the rope in terms of feeling like you’re out of a game. Big win for us.”
Jordan Poole led the Warriors with a career-high 31 points off the bench, hitting a playoff-best 5 of 10 threepointers. Curry added 24 points, Andrew Wiggins had 17 and Thompson finished with 15.
Green was ejected for a flagrant foul just before halftime.
“We were all kind of shocked by the decision, but we were confident and determined and the guys stayed with it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Thompson missed both free throws with 6.7s left, then Memphis won a jump ball before a timeout with 3.6s remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies ran a play similar to Morant’s last-second layup to win Game 5 in the first round, but Morant’s layup went off the backboard and over the rim.
“Got a great look. It just didn’t happen to go in,” said Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins.
Thompson helped defend Morant on the final drive, picking up when Gary Payton II was beaten. Thompson called it a “gut-check win” for a team that’s been through so much in the past couple years with injuries and missing the playoffs.
“In playoffs, all that matters is that final box-score score and handle business, but we’re far from satisfied.”
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists, and Jaren Jackson Jnr matched his season high with six three-pointers and had a career-high 33 points as Memphis’ first pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a playoff game. D’Anthony Melton added 14, and Brandon Clarke had 12.
The Grizzlies finished their firstround series against Minnesota by coming back from double-digit deficits in their final three wins — the first team in NBA history to do that more than once in a post-season, let alone a series. They came in leading the NBA in the fourth with an average of 33 points and outscoring opponents by 10.3 points a game. This time, they could only match the Warriors point for point in the period.
Memphis edged the Warriors out for the No 2 seed in the West by tying the franchise record with 56 wins, and the Grizzlies also took three of four in the season series. Thompson only played one and Green two of those games and Curry three.
This was a rematch with role reversals from the 2015 semifinal the Warriors won as the younger team with Memphis led by experienced vets. This also was just the first time the Warriors started a conference semifinal on the road and third playoff series Golden State didn’t start at home with Kerr as coach.
The Warriors mixed up their lineup, benching Poole in favour of Payton to focus on defending Morant, the Grizzlies’ All-Star point guard and the NBA’s MIP this season.
Morant had 14 to help the Grizzlies lead 32-24 after the first quarter. They led by as much as 13 in the second quarter and were up 61-55 at halftime.
With 1m 18s left in the second, Green fouled Brandon Clarke. Green finished with six points, four rebounds and five turnovers.