Grizzlies vs. Warriors: Game 5 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NBA Playoffs

For about nine minutes, it looked like the Memphis Grizzlies would waltz into Oracle Arena, snatch home-court advantage and put the Golden State Warriors on the brink of elimination.

Unfortunately for them, there were 39 minutes remaining.

Stephen Curry took advantage of every one, scoring 18 points as the Warriors pulled away in the second half to take a 98-78 win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday. The Warriors now hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series heading back to Memphis.

Curry, who broke Ray Allen's record to become the fastest player to 100 playoff three-pointers, knocked down six from long range and was instrumental to building Golden State's first-half lead. Taking advantage of Tony Allen's absence, Curry used his newfound freedom to beat Mike Conley and Courtney Lee off the dribble and knock down shots over them when he couldn't.

The Warriors have sprung to life since the disposal of Allen, who expertly hounded Curry and Klay Thompson during the first three games before going down with a hamstring injury in Game 4. Allen averaged three steals per game for the series, was uncharacteristically stellar offensively in Game 1 and consistently frustrated the Splash Brothers along with his backcourt mate Conley.

Curry has shot significantly worse—especially from three-point range—with Allen on the floor in this series, per NBA.com.

"I never get down," Curry told Lang Whitaker of NBA.com earlier this week. "You get frustrated about missing shots and how you play. But you never get down on yourself. We are competitors and as long as there is another game you have an opportunity to change it."

Perhaps taking advantage of Allen's absence, Curry was also active on the defensive end. He had six steals to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Curry is the first player in league history with six steals and six threes in the same playoff game.

The Warriors had a banner night overall as a team, hitting 46.7 percent of their threes and getting out for 29 fast-break points. Harrison Barnes scored in double figures for the fifth straight game with 14 points, while Thompson worked through some early struggles to score a team-high 21. Thompson scored 15 of his 21 in the second half and might finally be rounding into form in time for the conference finals.

The Grizzlies got off to a red-hot start, busting out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter and appearing dominant on both ends. But things quickly fell apart after those first nine minutes. Led by a three-point barrage from Curry, the Warriors went on a torrid 16-2 run in the final 3:10 of the first to take the lead and never relinquished it again.

For the second straight game, Memphis saw its offense fall apart, threes clanging off rims while Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph did some but not enough.

Gasol had his third straight double-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Those points unfortunately came as part of his third straight dreadful shooting night, as he made just eight of his 22 shots. The All-Star center has shot 36.2 percent over his recent downturn, struggling as Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green round into peak defensive form.

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Marc Gasol playing badly was an unexepected twist I wasn’t exactly looking forward to.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 14, 2015"

Randolph had his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but his scoring output isn't up to his usual standards. After going for 20 or more points the first three games of the series, he's combined for 25 in the last two.

Conley (13 points) and Jeff Green (10 points) were also each in double figures, but Memphis at this time doesn't have enough scoring oomph to take it to the next level. The bench managed 17 points total, with Vince Carter (3-of-10 shooting) leading the way with eight. Despite each playing significant minutes, the threesome of Kosta Koufos, Nick Calathes and Beno Udrih combined for four points while hitting one field goal.

"At some point we're going to have to score 100 points to win a game against them," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger told reporters earlier Wednesday. "You can't just keep running your defense at them."

By contrast, the Warriors are so deep that it seems like they'll accidentally fall into a breakout bench performance from a different player each game. Andre Iguodala carried his weight Wednesday by setting his 2015 playoff high with 16 points. Shaun Livingston and David Lee each played their bench roles well, to the point Steve Kerr's favorite reserves were each plus-18 or better by the end of the game.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

It's a testament to the Warriors' depth and chemistry that they didn't miss a beat without Marreese Speights, who sat out his second straight game with a calf injury. Speights, at times a bench X-factor for Kerr, will miss the remainder of the series, per Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group.

If Games 4 and 5 are any indication, all should be smooth sailing from here. This is the series most expected when Golden State opened as massive favorites before falling down 2-1. This is the team that turned in one of the greatest regular seasons in modern NBA history and swept Anthony Davis' Pelicans. This is the NBA championship favorite.

Luckily for the Warriors, they recaptured that magic just in time to be a win away from their first conference finals in nearly four decades.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter