As has been the case all season, the warriors did not go quietly. Their season is over, but they can feel good like they never stopped making the most of it.
Stephen Curry scored 39 points and dumped what he had left of an MVP season, but the Warriors fell in overtime to the Memphis Grizzlies 117-112 on Friday night at the Chase Center, ending Golden State’s season .
After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, the Warriors had to beat the Grizzlies in the final game of the play-in tournament to get into the playoffs and the first round of Utah Jazz. Instead, Golden State will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
Curry was on the offensive for most of the season and ended the year by winning the title. Even after playing 41 minutes on a physically and emotionally grueling loss in Los Angeles, he played 47 minutes and shot a total of 13 to 28 (6 to 15 from 3-point range). But he flipped the ball seven times.
In a sign of fatigue, he and Draymond Green combined (11 points out of 5 for 11 shots, 16 ricochets, and 10 assists in 45 minutes) 13 of Golden State’s 21 turnovers, resulting in 22 points for the Grizzlies. Striker Andrew Wiggins finished the race with 22 points to 10 for 22 shots and 10 ricochets.
But after an overwhelming performance in Sunday’s regular season finale, Ja Morant, sophomore point guard, approached Memphis with 35 points to 14 for 29 shots, including a career best of 5 to 10 out of 3 -Points range. Guard Dillon Brooks, whose race to catch up gave the Grizzlies a 17-point lead in the second quarter, finished the race with 14 points and asserted himself as Curry’s main defender.
Every time the warriors clawed back, the Grizzlies withdrew. Memphis led from the end of the first quarter through to the last moments of regulation. With 3:18 to go, his team 95-88 behind, Steve Kerr called for a time-out. The warriors responded with a 14-4 run to end the game 33.2 seconds ahead.
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After the defense forced a 24-second injury, Golden State got the ball back 9.2 seconds, but Green missed the starting line-up and the game was sent into overtime, with the Warriors 18-13 Points lead came out.
Morant’s back-to-back layups increased Memphis’ lead to five, and Poole trickled the ball out of the game in 27 seconds – Golden State’s 21st turnover. As disappointing as it was for the warriors, they were exhausted.
The Warriors ended the regular season at breakneck pace, mostly with an eight-man rotation. After winning 15 of their last 20 games to end the season, they ran out of steam and dropped both games in the play-in tournament.
But if there’s a takeaway from this season, it’s that this team has overcome injuries and lacks the depth to get into the playoffs. Players like Poole and Juan Toscano-Anderson have proven to be building blocks, Curry and Green have proven they’re still right in the middle of the action, and Kerr has perhaps had the best coaching performance of his tenure. A first round against jazz would have been a formality. Curry has been saying for weeks that he wanted this season to mean something. He can leave the Chase Center for the last time this season if he knows it is.
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