After a slow start in the final Western Conference play-in game, the Golden State Warriors battled to force an overtime period against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Chase Center.
However, while the Grizzlies continued to hit clutch buckets, the Warriors didn’t have an answer with the season on the line. Following a heroic performance from Ja Morant to pace the Warriors in regulation, his teammates answered the bell in overtime.
Grayson Allen drilled back-to-back triples to give the Grizzlies a four-point lead early in overtime. Despite triples from Draymond Green and Jordan Poole, Memphis continued to respond. With the shot clock running down, rookie Xavier Tillman hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Grizzlies up by one with 1:27 remaining.
Following an ugly missed jumper from Andrew Wiggins, Ja Morant closed the contest with back-to-back dagger floating layups.
The Memphis defense swarmed to Curry all night, including on the final possession of regulation. With Curry surrounded and seconds ticking away in the fourth quarter, the seven-time All-Star guard was forced to pass the ball. While Steph Curry scored a game-high 39 points on 13-of-28 shooting from the field and 6-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc, it wasn’t enough. Curry and the Warriors’ season came to a close with a loss to the Grizzlies, 117-112.
With back-to-back losses from the Warriors in the play-in tournament, the Grizzlies will take over the No. 8 seed, advancing to meet the Utah Jazz in the opening round of the 2021 postseason.
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Ja Morant
After a rough performance in the final game of the regular season against the Warriors at Chase Center, Ja Morant responded on Friday night. The second-year guard led the Grizzlies with 35 points on 14-of-29 shooting from the field with six rebounds, six assists and four steals in 46 minutes.
Following a cold long-distance run on Sunday in the Bay Area, shooting only 1-of-6 on 3-pointers, Morant had a career night beyond the arc in a big moment. The 21-year-old notched five triples on 10 attempts from deep to fuel his effort against the Warriors.
Turnovers
Connecting a theme from Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, turnovers hurt the Warriors against the Grizzlies. Golden State struggled to protect the basketball, turning it over 21 times on Friday night. Each time the Warriors needed to respond to a timely bucket by the Grizzlies, a turnover stunted the chances of a potential run.
Down by three with 27.9 seconds on the clock, Jordan Poole lost the ball out of bounds, recording a costly final turnover.
Out of the 21 turnovers, Golden State’s core of Steph Curry and Draymond Green combined for 13.
Jordan Poole
Barring his turnover at the end of the game, Jordan Poole turned in a gritty performance to end his breakout season. In 38 minutes off the bench, the second-year guard tallied 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field with four assists and three rebounds. In overtime, Poole hit a pair of much-needed triples to keep the Warriors in the game against the Grizzlies.
After a strong close to the season, Poole will likely head into his third year with the Warriors as a featured piece off the bench.
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