This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Game 4 of the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals, the Golden State Warriors at the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors took a 61-44 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Elite Defense Pushes The Lead Up To As Much As 26
Golden State got off to a good start, as Andrew Bogut got the second of two putback attempts of a Klay Thompson miss to fall.
Then after Courtney Lee missed a jumper, Stephen Curry gave his best effort to jump with Marc Gasol on the loose rebound, Thompson dove for the ball, got it to Draymond Green, who got it to Curry to advance the ball. Steph found Klay for a right wing triple and Gasol was way too late to lunge out, and the Warriors had a 66-47 advantage with 9:30 to go.
The Warriors’ good defense continued, as Lee made a bad pass from down low back out to Gasol, stolen by Thompson. But head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout after Curry tried to draw a similar foul as he did on an up-fake jumper against Jeff Green in the previous half. This time Lee was guarding Steph, but Curry did not get the call from the official. Lee answered with a lefty bankshot over Bogut.
Zach Randolph (aka “Z-Bo”) made a bad pass that was stolen by Harrison Barnes, Curry stripped Jeff Green from behind, and Draymond disrupted Gasol at the rim, then Steph put the icing on top as he executed an in-and-out dribble against Courtney Lee, dissected the Grizzlies’ defense to the baseline, and found Draymond open at the top. Draymond shoveled it back to Curry who had his feet ready at the right elbow arc and Steph swished it.
On the next possession, Gasol missed a layup, Z-Bo got the offensive rebound, but put up a hapless reverse shot over his head, Bogut got the rebound, and the Warriors worked the clock. Thompson eventually got a short pass from Bogut on the right corner and faded for a triple that swished through.
The Warriors were now up by 25, 74-49, with 5:03 to go and Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger called timeout.
Memphis made a final push before the period buzzer, as Jeff Green came out of the timeout with a lay-in as Mike Conley delivered from the baseline dribble.
Gasol found David Lee guarding him and took advantage, spinning past as Lee lunged at the entry pass from the mid-right block, then drawing a foul on Lee inside. Lee couldn’t counter, getting blocked at the rim on the other end and having an open jumper roll out, after hesitating on the first look.
Gasol tapped out a Curry cross-over dribble at the free throw line, then got the trailing two-handed dunk down the lane, but Steph answered back with an inside-out dribble on Courtney Lee, stopped beyond the arc on the left wing, and buried the three.
That gave Curry 27 points on 4-for-8 downtown, and the Warriors had an 82-61 cushion with 30 seconds remaining.
4TH QUARTER: Grizzlies Run Out Of Gas
Jeff Green started the quarter charging into Draymond, although the one in the first half was called on Draymond, then Draymond nailed a triple from up top as Thompson dribbled into the middle from the right wing and made a jump pass back out to the top.
Vince Carter made a three and Conley went around two screens to eventually get a floater to drop, but Barnes converted a “tic-tac-toe” play on a jumper from the left baseline after Draymond reset the ball from the right block back up top to Iguodala, who then found an open Barnes.
Randolph then made a bad dribble, lost the ball, and Draymond retrieved the ball, outlet to Iguodala, who soared in for the run-out dunk.
Joerger burned another timeout and Golden State had an 89-69 lead with 8:31 left.
The Warriors defense wouldn’t let their turnovers hurt them on this night. Curry turned the ball over, not getting another call as his arm was hit from behind on the dribble, but Randolph’s lefty bank went off as the Grizzlies’ bigs began to tire, and Bogut got an impressive one-handed lefty rebound out of it.
That allowed Curry to find Draymond open at the top on the next sequence. Green gave an up-fake, dribbled lefty past Z-Bo, and found Thompson open on the right wing for a splash, a virtual knockout punch that gave the Warriors a 95-75 lead 4:55 remaining.
Conley airballed a triple and Steph added a jumper from the right wing, then after Conley dribbled to the baseline and passed the ball out to Curry, Steph added one of two free throws, ending with 33 points.
Shaun Livingston added one more good defensive sequence, not biting on Beno Udrih‘s pump fake and swatting his jumper attempt, and the benches were cleared after that as Joerger waved the white flag.
Curry’s 33 points were on 11-for-22 shooting, 4-for-9 downtown, to go along with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 turnovers. Draymond tallied 16 points on 6-for-10 field, 3-for-8 beyond the arc, and 10 rebounds. Klay had 15 points, Barnes added 12 points, Bogut 9 rebounds, and Iguodala chipped in 11 points off the bench, 3-for-5 from three-point-land.
Golden State still committed 21 turnovers compared to Memphis’ 17, but the Warriors had 10 blocked shots.
Gasol and Randolph combined to go just 12-for-29 and Conley was just 4-for-15. The Grizzlies were a combined 4-for-18 (22.2%) from downtown.
Game 5 is in less than 48 hours from Oracle Arena in Oakland.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mzepatos)
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