Curry, Porter rally Warriors to Game 4 win over Memphis
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With head coach Steve Kerr benched by COVID, the Golden State offense went AWOL for much of the night before Steph Curry drained eight free throws in the closing seconds to claim a 101-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Monday night and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Western Conference semifinals.
Curry had a miserable shooting night for much of the first three quarters, but found his stroke in the fourth quarter, scoring 18 of his 32 points. He converted on 8-of -10 free throws in the final 45 seconds.
"It's basketball," Curry said of the Warriors offensive woes. "We got a little rush the first 6 minutes and that set the tone for some ugly offense. Even the open shots didn't feel like they were in rhythm. But credit to our defense and fed off our home crowd, that kept us in it."
While the team is confident with assistant coach Mike Brown, who was named the new Sacramento Kings head coach hours before the game, they did miss Kerr's voice in the huddle.
"His head coaching record for a Warrior playoff game I think is undefeated," Klay Thompson said. "We did miss Steve a lot, just his voice, his presence, but we've been here before, 2017 when Mike took over and we rolled off a lot of wins, so I reflected on that a lot."
Brown has filled in for Kerr in the past during his long tenure on the Warriors staff, amassing a 12-0 playoff record.
"Obviously there's butterflies, because again you're going into the game with a certain mindset and it's a big game. Every game that we play at this point in the year, it's huge," said Brown. "So to have that kind of thrown at you, you've got to switch gears because I know what my responsibilities are going in as Mike Brown the assistant coach, and it changes."
With Memphis controlling the action for much of the night, the Grizzlies held a 93-90 lead in the fourth quarter before Golden State went on an 11-5 run to put the game.
Not to be outdone by Curry's heroics, Draymond Green -- who played with a heavy heart in the wake of his friend and former MSU teammate Adreian Payne's death -- also came up with a defense gem in the final seconds, blocking a Jaren Jackson Jr. three-point attempt.
The Warriors had trailed 41-38 at halftime after their lowest scoring playoff half since 2015. They missed their first 15 3-point shots and turned the ball over 11 times.
Golden State scored just 38 points in the first half and rebounded to score 39 points in the fourth quarter alone.
While his teammates struggled, reserve forward Otto Porter Jr. kept the Warriors close, hitting on 4-of-6 from the 3-point line and scoring 12 points off the bench.
Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Klay Thompson scored 14 points.
Meanwhile Grizzlies played without star Ja Morant, who was sidelined by with an injured knee, but showed why they were 20-5 in games without the gravity defying guard.
Jackson stepped up, scoring 21 points with Tyus Jones, who played in place of Morant, scored 19 points, had six rebounds and five assists.
Dillon Brooks returned from a one-game suspension and struggled mightily, missing a 3-point try with 53 seconds left and finishing 5 for 19 with 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
He sat out Game 3 as a penalty by the league for his Flagrant 2 foul that injured Gary Payton II in Game 2, when Brooks hit the Golden State guard over the head on a driving layup attempt and Payton fell hard and broke his left elbow. Kerr called it a "dirty" play and said Brooks had broken an NBA code of conduct.
Brooks was booed nearly every time he touched the ball, fouled or when he checked back into the game.