How Warriors survived emotional day and eked out win over Grizzlies

Tue, May 10, 2022
NBA News (AP)

To understand the Warriors' performance in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday, you first have to hear about the events leading up to it.

At around 10:30 a.m., coach Steve Kerr (wearing a mask and speaking with a hoarse voice) opened his news conference following shootaround grim-faced, saying, unprompted, that Draymond Green was "just crushed" because his close friend and former teammate at Michigan State, Adreian Payne, was shot and killed in Orlando on Monday.

Around six hours later, at 4:45 p.m., Kerr called lead assistant Mike Brown as he drove to the arena to tell him he wasn't feeling well. A half hour later, Kerr found out he tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately called Brown back to tell him he'd have to take over that evening.

It was an emotional and draining and turbulent afternoon for the Warriors, who were trying to support a distraught Green and then scrambling to figure out how to play without their coach.

And, boy, did it show.

The Warriors were their own worst enemies against the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies in the first three quarters of their 101-98 win in Game 4. The Splash Brothers (Steph Curry and Klay Thompson) were a combined 2-for-17 from beyond the arc. And the team couldn't hold onto the ball, committing 13 turnovers.

They looked like they were sleep-walking their way through the game, a stark difference from the incredibly sharp Warriors team that had scored the second-most points in their playoff history (142) just two days earlier in their Game 3 romp of the Grizzlies.

But in the fourth quarter, the Warriors pulled off the improbable, pulling things together just enough to eke past the Grizzlies. Curry had 18 of his 32 points in the final eight minutes, including making eight free throws in the final 45.7 seconds.

In the final minute, Jordan Poole turned to the crowd and signaled for them to cheer louder. Curry wildly pumped his arms in the air. Green screamed with excitement.

For a team that played horribly and didn't have its first lead of the game until there were 45.7 seconds left (94-93), the Warriors knew they really got away with one here.

Curry called the day "wild." Thompson called it "emotional."

Green declined to talk about it altogether.

After the game, he didn't take questions from reporters. Instead, he walked onto the interview podium and said that he and his wife, Hazel, were going to donate $100,000 to a fund in Payne's name. He said he couldn't talk about the game. Not here. Not now.

"I'm going to go home and just sit on my podcast and talk because I can pause that and cry if I need to cry," said Green, who had two points, 11 rebounds and five assists. "I don't like to cry in front of people."

As for Brown, the entire day was a rollercoaster.

He was officially named the next head coach of the Sacramento Kings on Monday. That morning, the entire Warriors organization heaped praise on him - as well as a few friendly jabs, considering he's taking over a team that has missed the playoffs 16 straight years.

Then, when Brown found out that afternoon that he'd be coaching Game 4, he might've become the first person ever to get two head-coaching gigs on the same day.

Brown acknowledged he had butterflies Monday night.

Even though he had head-coaching stints for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers, including coaching LeBron James in the 2007 NBA Finals and being named Coach of the Year in 2009, this took him by surprise. This was entirely unexpected.

He leaned on veterans Andre Iguodala and Green to help lead the team. When things were looking pretty grim for the Warriors, they helped keep everyone calm, delivering a steadying message.

"There's no need to panic," Brown recalled them saying. "Let's do what we do. Move the ball a little bit better. Come to a jump stop here. Box out there. Push the ball with pace and get to the corner, little reminders like that, things we have been talking about the whole series against this team."

It worked.

In the final minutes of the game, Curry, who was 6-for-18 from the field in the first three quarters, did what he does best: He kept shooting as though he were on fire. Eventually, the law of averages worked out in his favor.

Brown marveled at how unrattled Curry always remains.

"I hate to say, I don't know if he has a great memory, which is fantastic," Brown said, flashing a smile.

Monday was a strange day. And the game was strange. But for the Warriors, out of chaos came clarity.

Even after a discombobulated, tough day, they kept believing in themselves and refused to drop the rope. Now, they're one win away from advancing to the Western Conference finals with a 3-1 series lead over the Grizzlies.

For a team that's attempting to reach the mountaintop again after making the NBA Finals five straight seasons from 2015 to 2019, Monday served as a great reminder.

"We've been here before," Curry said. "And we know how to pull off games like this."

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for AP Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.