Curry spurs sleepwalking Warriors to come-from-behind Game 4 win over
Grizzlies
After the Warriors erupted for 142 points in an outstanding offensive
showcase Saturday night, it took almost 40 minutes of game action Monday
night for Golden State to even get halfway there.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 9: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) celebrates after making a free-throw attempt in the fourth
quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 9, 2022 at 9:44 p.m. | UPDATED: May 10, 2022 at 12:15 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/09/curry-spurs-sleepwalking-warriors-to-come-from-behind-game-4-win-over-grizzlies/

SAN FRANCISCO — After the Warriors erupted for 142 points in an
outstanding offensive showcase Saturday night, it took almost 40 minutes
of game action Monday night for Golden State to even get halfway there.

It was that kind of calamitous night at Chase Center, but the Warriors
still managed to pull out a come-from-behind 101-98 win over the Ja
Morant-less Grizzlies to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference
semifinals series.

The Warriors were without coach Steve Kerr, who entered the league’s
COVID-19 league’s health and safety protocols about two hours before
tip-off after he tested positive for the virus. Assistant coach Mike
Brown was at the helm for Game 4 and will remain there until at least
Game 6 Friday, barring two negative test results for Kerr.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 9: Golden State Warriors assistant
coach Mike Brown coaches from the sideline against the Memphis Grizzlies
in the first quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff
series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022.
(Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies were without Morant, their All-Star guard who
injured his right knee in Game 3.

The game came down to the wire, with the Warriors’ sound free-throw
shooting sealing the victory. Golden State’s last nine points came from
the foul line.

With about a minute remaining, Jordan Poole made a pair of free throws
to pull within one. On the Warriors’ next possession, a driving Stephen
Curry was fouled and made a pair of free throws to put Golden State
ahead for the first time in the game.

A loose ball foul after a missed Memphis shot sent Curry back to the
line, where he made another two freebies to put the Warriors up 96-93
with 25.9 seconds remaining. Curry was sent to the line again, extending
the lead back to three, after Dillon Brooks made a layup. The Warriors
commanded the lead for the remainder of the game.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 9: Golden State Warriors' Stephen
Curry (30) and Golden State Warriors' Otto Porter Jr. (32) celebrate
near the end of fourth quarter against Memphis Grizzlies at the Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Shae
Hammond/Bay Area News Group)

Draymond Green sealed the victory after he got his hand on Jaren Jackson
Jr.’s 3-point attempt in the final 10 seconds.

“That’s what you do,” Curry yelled at Green after the play.

The victory capped off what had been an emotional day for Green and the
Warriors. Before shootaround, Brown was officially named the head coach
of the Sacramento Kings, a position he’ll assume after Golden State’s
postseason run. Meanwhile, Green received the devastating news that his
former Michigan State teammate Adreian Payne was fatally shot in the
early morning hours of Monday in Orlando, Florida.

“Draymond, emotionally, he’s our emotional heart and soul, and for him
to get hit with something that impactful, not only was it … for him, but
we felt it, we felt it as a group,” Brown said after the win. “It was a
tough night for us, but at this point in the year, you win ballgames.
Doesn’t matter how you get there… we found a way tonight.”

Poor shooting hampered the Warriors for most of the game, which was a
snoozefest until the final quarter.

Otto Porter Jr. made Golden State’s first 3-pointer of the game in the
last four minutes of the first half after Golden State missed its first
15 attempts from deep. In fact, it was Porter — not Klay Thompson or
Poole — who made a good portion of the Warriors’ shots from deep.

Porter scored 12 points off the bench, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range,
his most in a game since December.

Thompson and Poole went a combined 0-for-10 from beyond the arc in what
was another uncharacteristic shooting night for some of the Warriors’
most reliable scorers. In total, the Warriors shot 24.3% from deep.

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 9: Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole
(3) goes up for a basket past Memphis Grizzlies' Steven Adams (4) in the
first quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series
at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 9: Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole
(3) goes up for a basket past Memphis Grizzlies’ Steven Adams (4) in the
first quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series
at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Five Warriors finished in double-digit scoring. Curry scored a team-high
32 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter, and became the first NBA
player to make 500 postseason 3-pointers. Andrew Wiggins had 17 and 10
rebounds as Golden State mustered up just enough offensive energy and
defensive stops to beat the Grizzlies.

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Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points, Tyus Jones added 19 and Steven Adams
recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Brooks, who returned Monday night after serving a one-game suspension
for injuring Gary Payton II with a hard foul in Game 2, was loudly booed
by the home crowd. He said he thrives off the fans’ taunts but didn’t
play like it. Brooks shot 5-for-19 and finished with 12 points, five
rebounds and eight assists.

Assistant coach Chris DeMarco joked that Monday’s contest was a “hell of
a football game.”

“And that’s what it was,” Brown. “But that’s playoff basketball.
Sometimes it’s grimy, sometimes it’s gritty.”

The Warriors can clinch the series with a Game 5 victory Wednesday night
in Memphis to head to their sixth Western Conference Finals in eight
seasons.

“Wednesday is going to be the hardest one yet,” Thompson said. “It
always is, the closeout. We have to put this behind us and put together
a good game plan.”

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 9: Golden State Warriors' Stephen
Curry (30) celebrates as the final seconds winds down in the fourth
quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 9: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) celebrates as the final seconds winds down in the fourth
quarter of Game 4 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, May 9, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

--
Madeline Kenney | Warriors reporter