Grizzlies 117, Warriors 112 (OT)
What went down
The inaugural play-in tournament couldn’t have ended any better. Both the Warriors and Grizzlies battled with a sense of hunger, purpose, and fire in the win-or-go home battle.
After the dust settled, it was Ja Morant and his team who came out of the overtime classic. The sophomore star hit a dagger floater off a spin with 4.5 seconds left to push the Grizzlies’ lead to five, 114-109. Jordan Poole countered with a tough falling away triple, but the Warriors had a mishap defensively in the next possession and failed to foul. Desmond Banes found a free drive to the hoop in the inbound play for an and-1 dunk to seal the game.
The Warriors actually had a chance to win the game in regulation but Draymond Green’s shot went awry.
The Grizzlies will take on the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs.
Big-time baller
Both Steph Curry and Morant put on a show and provided numbers that jump out of the stat sheet.
Morant gets the edge because of the Grizzlies win and he had his fingerprints all over the game. He had 35 points (14-of-29 field goals), six rebounds, six assists, and four steals. The Warriors dared Morant to beat them from the outside and last season’s Rookie of the Year did not shy away from the moment, making five 3-pointers. He also scored a total of 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime
Curry, despite being guarded heavily all game, finished with 39 points on 46 percent shooting, adding four boards, five dimes and three steals. However, he was relatively mortal from beyond the arc, going 6-for-15, and committed seven turnovers as well in the loss.
We should also give an honorable mention to Dillon Brooks. His defense on Curry was hands down outstanding. He did everything to stay on the two-time MVP. He played denial defense, ran through a wall of screens, chased Curry all over the floor, and contested every shot he could. He’s a big-time defender.
What he said
Morant said all the nice things in the postgame interview, saying his late-game floater was the type of shots he wanted to make. He even said to coach Taylor Jenkins he didn’t want a screen, pronouncing “I want that pressure.”
But Morant threw away the cliches and niceties out the window on social media. Say it with your chest young fella!
DOUBLE TF DOWN ??
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) May 22, 2021
Did you see that?
Morant with his signature moment!
JA MORANT COLD-BLOODED 🥶 pic.twitter.com/VvkA86x3Zt
— ESPN (@espn) May 22, 2021
