This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors took a 54-49 lead into the third frame.
3RD QUARTER: Chef Curry!
“Chef” Stephen Curry got cooking early, getting a beautiful floater over Marc Gasol after freeing himself a lane on a up-fake of a three-point shot. Draymond Green then grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast to deliver Curry his first trey in what would be many to follow.
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Green came dangerously close to picking up his fourth personal, as Gasol posted him up, and the whistle was blown with both of Green’s arms outstretched, but luckily for the Warriors, the referee called the foul on Harrison Barnes instead.
Klay Thompson then took his #SplashBrothers turn, drilling two three-pointers in a row, the second of which was facilitated by Curry getting a leaping defensive rebound on the baseline, then leading the break and finding Thompson on the deep right side, with Gasol helplessly closing out too late.
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Memphis head coach Dave Joerger called timeout and Golden State jumped out to a 65-55 lead with 8:43 to go.
But Chef Curry had just gotten cooking.
After the timeout, Green handed off to Curry on the deep perimeter…
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…and Steph drained another three, then as he ran another pick-and-roll with Draymond, Zach Randolph switched over. Green already had Mike Conley beat on the roll and Curry easily found him with a nearly blind lefty sling pass to make it 70-59 with 6:38, Warriors up.
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Curry then blocked Conley and got a nifty reverse layup as leaper Jeff Green gave chase.
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Then the Warriors showed off their prowess on both ends of the court. Randolph posted up Andrew Bogut, but as “Z-Bo” used his body to create space, Bogut retreated, trying to draw the charge, then Randolph lost the ball to Draymond. Klay got the ball on the right wing and found himself iso’ed with Gasol, then took Gasol hard to the hole and, with the Grizzlies thinking Thompson would hit Curry in the deep left corner, dumped the ball off instead to a cutting Green for an easy finger roll.
Joerger called another timeout and the Golden State lead stretched to 74-59.
The beatdown continued, however. Curry got another triple playing pick-and-roll with Draymond, the Warriors’ 10th make in 14 trey attempts.
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Steph then totally fooled his defender, Courtney Lee as Lee bit on the pick supplied inside by Andre Iguodala. The alert play by Curry left him wide open on the right side for yet another triple, this time delivered by Leandro Barbosa.
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Bogut then slapped the ball down away from Gasol as Gasol tried to go aggressive in the post, and Draymond got another layup, cutting to the basket as Iguodala found him. Curry added a free throw as the referee called Gasol for a technical for slamming the ball into the stanchion in frustration.
Jeff Green got a soaring dunk on the next play, but the Warriors were up by twenty, 83-63, with 2:40 remaining.
Festus Ezeli had another great outing off the bench in limited minutes, getting fouled on a dunk attempt and converting both free throws, upping his season mark from the charity stripe to an amazing 80%.
Golden State ended the quarter a bit sloppily as Iguodala made an unforced turnover and Curry missed a three and a long two before the buzzer.
The Warriors held an 85-65 lead over the Grizzlies heading into the final frame.
4TH QUARTER: Nails In The Coffin
The majority of the start of the fourth quarter was mired with misses from both sides, as the Warriors’ bench unit couldn’t get anything going, although he got a turnaround banker to drop, showing off some refined footwork.
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The ugly performance was capped by a Barbosa airball followed by a near-silly foul by Shaun Livingston as Vince Carter was about to cock a trey. With the Grizzlies taking the ball side out, with 6:19 to play and Golden State still up, 87-73, Curry and Draymond returned.
At the 5:23 mark and with the shotclock winding down, with the Warriors still practically waking up from the lackadaisical play, Livingston got a turnaround line drive shot, turning away from the baseline rather than towards it, and that seemed break Golden State out of the doldrums.
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Then, in a sequence that summed up the night, the Grizzlies ran an elevators play for Conley, but his shot rolled out of the rim. Curry came back down on the ensuing possession, got Draymond in the scene for a potential pick-and-roll again, and stopped and popped in front of Conley, drilling the triple as if to say, “Here’s how you do it, Mike.”
That put another nail in the Grizzlies’ coffin and the Warriors were now up 92-75 with 4:14 remaining.
After Nick Calathes missed a triple, Curry came back and, once again, fooled the defense on the cut, going out instead of in, and Conley lunged out, fouled Steph on the shot, as the ball rattled in and out. Curry converted all three free throws and he was up to 38 points on the night.
Steph’s show wasn’t done yet, as he found Thompson underneath with a zip pass from 30 feet away, to give the Dubs a commanding 97-78 lead with 3:05 to go.
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Joerger called a mercy timeout and the bench unit finished things up, although Thompson stayed on the floor as Justin Holiday checked in for Curry and James McAdoo for Ezeli. McAdoo added a steal and a run-out and-one…
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…and Marreese Speights stayed in offensive rebounding mode, getting a two-handed dunk on a putback of a missed Holiday three.
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The final score was 107-84, Warriors. Curry led the way with 38 points on 12-for-22 field, 8-for-12 downtown, and 10 assists, including a post-game display of his peripheral vision.
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Klay added 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting, 6-for-9 beyond the arc. The team assisted on 28 of their 39 field goals and ended out-rebounding the Grizzlies, 43-40.
Conley led Memphis with 16 points, Jeff Green added 16, and both Gasol and Randolph were 4-for-10 from the field and a combined 8 rebounds.
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