NBA Playoffs: Golden State Warriors beat Memphis Grizzlies to take the lead
The Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 98-78 in Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs in Oakland to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. Stephen Curry was once again the star for the Warriors, scoring 18 points and also accounted for seven rebounds and five assists and also achieved a playoff high steals of six.
The MVP winner was well assisted by Klay Thompson, who netted in 21 points and Harrison Barnes, who scored 14 points.
The head coach of the Warriors, Steve Kerr was a pleased man on the night and reiterated his earlier point about the defense of the team.
"I think I said the first couple games our defense was good enough. But it wasn't championship defense. I was wrong. This is what it's going to take,” the 49-year-old said.
For the Grizzlies, Marc Gasol scored 18 points and 12 rebounds while Zach Randolph scored 13 points and 10 boards but the absence of Tony Allen due to a hamstring injury was certainly felt them even if coach Dave Joerger said after the game that them managed to score 78 points in the game.
“Everybody's saying we couldn't score because Tony Allen's on the floor. We put up 78 without him," he said.
It’s been a remarkable comeback by the Warriors, particularly after they found themselves 2-1 down at the end of Game 3 and they will certainly now hope to clinch the series in the next game to be played at Memphis on Friday night.
Curry leads the way again
The Grizzlies were off a great start in the first quarter, after having a 13-pint lead, but four three-pointers from Curry, pegged them back significantly as the score suddenly read 26-25 in favor of the Warriors.
Kerr admitted that despite the sluggish start, to have got the lead at the end of the first quarter was indeed miraculous.
"It was a miracle we had the lead after the first quarter," he said.
Those three-pointers shifted the momentum completely on the side of the Warriors and they never let the game slip away from their grasp after that as Curry returned in the second half to put in yet another fine show to stretch the lead 49-41 in his side’s favour at half-time.