Ugly is the operative term to describe Monday night’s all-important Warriors win. It was a hard-to-watch result that gives Golden State a 3-1 lead and puts them in the driver’s seat to move to the Western Conference Final.
Despite that wretched nature of the performance, Stephen Curry led Golden State out of the desert for an enormous 101-98 win.
Lights out to lights off
Two nights ago, Golden State shot its second-highest ever percentage from the field, making 53-of-84 shots, good for 63.1 percent.
The script was flipped on Monday. Whatever juice they had going for them was lost. Without Ja Morant on the Memphis side, it looked like the Warriors had no motivation.
Everyone looked like they’d just woken up from a season-long nap. Except they never really woke up. The pace and style of play was entirely disjointed.
That free-flowing offensive style the Warriors have run to so much success for so long was nowhere to be found. Players were standing around, not cutting with the same level of vigor, intentionality or precision they usually do.
It’s hard to know what effect not having Steve Kerr — who tested positive for COVID-19 just before the start of the game — had, but it certainly didn’t seem to help.
There was a general sense of malaise, with Jordan Poole unable to get going and Stephen Curry left responsible to shepherd the offensive load.
Curry was creating space and making moves like he usually does, but he simply couldn’t hit until the fourth.
Klay Thompson continued to take ill-advised shots and missed every attempt from three. He was useful as a rebounder and solid defensively, though, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-20 shooting and 0-of-7 from 3, with 7 rebounds.
Poole was sloppy. His ball control was unreliable and he had trouble creating space for himself and executing. He had just 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting, missing all three 3s. He added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, but turned it over 4 times.
Draymond Green was solid aside from only scoring 2 points, tallying 11 rebounds and 5 assists. He remained stellar defensively and avoided fouling out late with 5 fouls.
But in the end, it was Curry to save them, as it so often is. Despite a woeful, nay, disastrous shooting night as a team and a rough one from Curry himself, he came through in the clutch.
Without the free-flowing, shot-creation the Warriors normally find — and the Grizzlies should be commended for their defensive effort, too — he had to take over. He didn’t go full iso on every possession, but he was proactive, driving, stepping back, and getting to the line when it really mattered.
He finished with 32 points on 10-of-25 shooting, 4-of-14 from deep and 8-of-9 from the stripe, with 5 rebounds, 8 assists and a few turnovers. It was his game late.
No Ja, some problems
After suffering a knee injury in Game 3, Ja Morant sat out in Game 4.
That seemed to work alright for Memphis, who were somehow 20-5 without Morant in the regular season. They had experience without him on the floor.
Golden State didn’t seem to adjust well, as Steven Adams got the start for the first time this series and gave them a ton of trouble on the inside, racking up 15 rebounds and 10 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. took on some of the scoring load with 21 points, as did Tyus Jones who added 18 of his own and seemed to get into the paint and execute myriad floaters with ease.
Even slo-mo Kyle Anderson gave the Warriors issues with his size and unique YMCA-style game. He had 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and was effective in just about every other facet, adding 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
But they didn’t have Morant when it mattered, and despite another Hail Mary from Brooks to end the game (they’ve now made three buzzer-beating shots from roughly half court over the last two games), Memphis couldn’t close. Curry did.
Slow start, but disaster avoided
There will be a bit of head scratching after this win. It’s hard to recall a recent Warriors win more embarrassing.
The crowd was poor and didn’t get into the game properly until late. There was no Kerr on the sidelines. A team that couldn’t miss a couple days ago missed everything.
Still, a win is a win. A loss would have represented a potentially devastating shift in the series, but no hand-wringing will deny the fact that Golden State finds themselves up 3-1 now with three chances to close out, including one more at home.
And Warriors fans — as underwhelming as the Monday night crowd was for most of the duration — got what they wanted from Dillon Brooks.
He was, as he has been for most of these playoffs, terrible offensively, aside from that game-ending prayer that hit. His defensive presence was substantial, but he was shooting some absolute clankers from everywhere else.
He finished with 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting and 2-of-9 from deep with 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 turnovers, but every shot he took that wasn’t a layup gave the Warriors a breather.
While there’s a quick turnaround on Wednesday that favors Memphis — who may or may not have Morant — Golden State is in the driver’s seat, regardless of how they got there.
