Healthy Warriors ready for Grizzlies

Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have the Warriors in their seventh Western Conference semifinal in 10 seasons, and both finally are as healthy as they’ve been since reaching five straight NBA Finals from 2015-19.

That remarkable run started when the Warriors rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the second round against the Grizzlies in 2015, marking a big switch in the direction for both franchises.

Ja Morant has the rebuilt Grizzlies back in the West semis for the first time in seven years. The dynamic guard leads a young, brash and deep roster that edged out Golden State for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with the NBA’s best record behind only the Suns.

And the Grizzlies can’t wait to see how it matches up with the veteran-led, playoff-tested Warriors.

“We feel like we are one of the best backcourts in the league as well,” Morant said. “So, going into any matchup, we’re taking ourselves over anybody. We’re very confident. We put in the work.”

The third-seeded Warriors, rested with three days off since ousting the Nuggets on Wednesday night, know what they want starting Sunday afternoon in Game 1.

“We’ve been around the block, and we’re trying to get back to the mountaintop and understand the opportunity in front of us,” Curry said Saturday before the Warriors left San Francisco.

The last time these teams met on the playoff stage in

2015, the Grizzlies jumped out to a 2-1 lead. The Warriors found their turning point after that and went on to win the series in six games on their way to capturing the franchise’s first championship in 40 years.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr calls this a “role reversal” with the Warriors the younger team then and now the more experienced group with four main players still around from that title squad. And, yes, Kerr believes postseason runs help teams forge an identity.

“Memphis is in a similar boat now gaining that experience, feeling what it’s like to be on the road and trailing in the fourth quarter, and they’ve done a really good job of advancing and getting to this stage and now it continues,” Kerr said. “The more experience you get, the better.”

‘There’s hope’ for Embiid: The best that 76ers coach Doc Rivers could offer Saturday about Joel Embiid’s possible availability for the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Heat was a two-word answer. “There’s hope,” Rivers said.

For now, the 76ers will cling to that.

The 76ers and Heat both hit the practice floor Saturday to begin the process of adjusting for a playoff series that won’t have Embiid at the start — at minimum. Embiid, the NBA’s scoring champion and an MVP finalist this season, has a right orbital fracture and a mild concussion, injuries that were suffered Thursday in a first-round seriesclincher at Toronto and were announced Friday night.

Game 1 is Monday in Miami. And the 76ers will be without their center who averaged 30 points per game this season.

Suns fined for injury reporting rules: The NBA fined the Suns fined $25,000 on Saturday for violating injury reporting rules by failing to disclose guard Devin Booker’s participation status in an accurate and timely manner before Game 6 of the first-round playoff series against the Pelicans.

Booker returned from a strained right hamstring to help the Suns beat the Pelicans 115-109 on Thursday night in New Orleans in the series-ending game.