Stephen Curry's MVP Performance Gets Warriors Back on Track vs. Grizzlies
The Golden State Warriors evened things up at 2-2 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday by playing like the total-package, weakness-free engine of devastation they resembled all season long.
But you can bet they're happier about Stephen Curry's return to form than any of the myriad other factors that led to the 101-84 win.
The Dubs got their MVP back after some impostor suited up in a No. 30 jersey for a two-game stint that saw the Grizzlies notch a pair of victories. Early on in Game 4 of this Western Conference Semifinal, it appeared the real Curry was still missing. It took him eight minutes and 30 seconds to finally log his first field goal, but Curry proceeded to make up for lost time from then on.
When he got a deep trey to fall at the first-quarter buzzer, giving the Warriors an eight-point advantage, you could practically see the weight from two intensely frustrating games slough off his shoulders.
Curry would finish with 33 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 11-of-22 shooting. His four made triples equaled his combined total from Games 2 and 3.
More importantly, he found the line between hyper-aggression and wanton disregard for the sanctity of every playoff possession. There were moments when Curry stepped over that invisible divider, tossing an ill-advised pass here or overdribbling there, but most of the errors of overexertion that plagued him in Games 2 and 3 disappeared.
Curry will get the bulk of the praise for Golden State's Game 4 triumph. He's the figurehead, and that sort of thing comes with the territory. But plenty of credit belongs to his supporting cast and head coach Steve Kerr.
Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes were big early contributors, with the former hitting some key jumpers and the latter attacking the rim aggressively in the first quarter. Not only that, but those two had to tangle with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph on the defensive interior.
Klay Thompson struggled to 15 points on 15 shots from the field, but his smothering defense on Mike Conley kept the Grizzlies from getting into their preferred offensive sets. And Andrew Bogut uglied everything up, setting the ultra-physical tone the Warriors desperately needed, per Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:
Collectively, the Warriors shot 47.5 percent from the field and buried 14 of their 33 three-point attempts while holding Memphis to 37.5 percent shooting and just four made triples.
Still, as the Warriors missed a handful of open looks and occasionally let the ball stick on offense, Kerr found opportunities to make clear his belief that his team was capable of even more, per Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com:
Golden State's defensive adjustments were the decisive factor in Game 4. The Warriors completely ignored Tony Allen on offense, using Bogut to technically defend him—which really meant the big Aussie got to roam around the interior as a free safety.
Allen, completely alone on the perimeter, took and missed three three-pointers in the first six minutes of the game. Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger had no choice but to take him out, and Allen played just 16 minutes in the contest.
It was a slick ploy from Kerr, but a necessary one, as he informed reporters after the game, per Kevin Lipe of the Memphis Flyer:
The ripple effects of eliminating Allen from the proceedings were massive. Suddenly, Curry and Thompson didn't have to tangle with the league's scariest perimeter defender this side of Kawhi Leonard. Golden State's improved offensive flow with Allen on the bench was no coincidence.
In addition, the Warriors aggressively doubled Memphis' post-up tries all night after seeing some success with the tactic in the second half of Game 3. The Grizzlies, bereft of kick-out options, didn't have an answer, per Matt Moore of CBS Sports:
"I talk a lot about how it’s a problem in the playoffs if you’re “solvable” offensively. Doubling the post has made Memphis solvable.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 12, 2015"
The chaos Golden State created inside led to run-outs, cross-matches and some serious frustration from the Grizzlies, all of which fueled a previously dormant offensive attack. The Warriors got the transition looks they needed, finally hit them with regularity and put the Grizzlies on their heels.
It was a momentum seizure of the sort Golden State perpetrated repeatedly during the regular season.
Memphis, whose roster simply doesn't have the personnel necessary to make the Warriors pay for sell-out doubles on its big men, will struggle to adjust going forward.
Golden State's Game 3 loss and the attendant 2-1 series deficit created a pressure the team hadn't felt all year. Monday's win proved that the Warriors, though unfamiliar with that pressure, could handle it.
And now, the Grizzlies and the rest of the league have a reminder that these Warriors are much more than a jump-shooting team that can be knocked out of rhythm with a little physicality and clever scheming, as Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star observed:
This is still a series, and Memphis will lean on the things—brute strength, defense, size and grit—that helped it log a pair of wins nobody expected. But the Warriors have struck back now, and they'll leave a ton of tension in Tennessee when they return to Oakland for Game 5.
During a carefree 67-win season, we saw how the Warriors could play when free from pressure: loose, aggressive, confident, ridiculously dominant.
Now we know they can play that way when the pressure's on, too.
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