The Butler-Curry combination fits together like a glove. The Golden State Warriors officially punched their ticket to the playoffs, even if the road to that point was not exactly the smoothest.
The Warriors escaped with a win against the scrappy Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 in Tuesday’s Western Conference play-in tournament game at Chase Center thanks in large part to the newly formed duo of Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. They made beautiful music together. The Warriors clinched the No. 7 seed in the process and will square off with the young and up and coming second-seeded Houston Rockets.
Playoff Jimmy lived up to his name in all his brilliance on the big stage and took all the pressure off Curry, and now they are taking the Golden State Warriors to the playoffs.
“I know I want to win a championship so he needs, his what, this would be No. 5?” Butler said.
As for the Grizzlies, they will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks for the No. 8 seed. They also could have knotted the game in the final seconds but committed a rarely called five-second violation down three.
Curry unlocked his usual magic with several three-pointers down the stretch on his way to a great night with 36 points, eight rebounds and four assists, but it was Butler, 38 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, who carried the load for much of the game as well.
It was enough to overcome impressive performances from Desmond Bane, who had a team-high 30 points, with six rebounds and four assists, and Ja Morant, 22 points, and earn plenty of reaction on social media.
Embed from Getty ImagesAll signs pointed toward a Golden State win heading into Tuesday’s matchup.
After all, they went 3-1 against the Grizzlies during the regular season, were playing at home in front of their fans and have looked like a different team since the arrival of Butler in a midseason trade from the Miami Heat. Sprinkle in the abundance of championship experience Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr brought to the table, and Memphis was facing an uphill battle.
Golden State is now headed for a best-of-seven first-round series with the Rockets beginning with Game 1 on Sunday at Houston.
“It took 83 games but we’re right where we want to be, which is back in the playoffs and we’ve got a chance,” coach Steve Kerr said.
It appeared to be a huge undertaking in the first half as the Warriors extended their lead to as many as 20 with Curry nailing threes, converting a four-point play and battling for boards while Butler poured in 21 points before halftime.
The six-time All-Star took full advantage of the elite spacing that comes from Curry’s gravitational pull and mixed in his own outside looks and penetrations into the lane. Butler and Green played a nifty two-man game inside the arc at times as well, and there was very little a Memphis defense that still had to account for Curry on the perimeter could do.
To the Grizzlies’ credit, they did not fade away.
Bane did much of the heavy lifting on the offensive end while Scotty Pippen Jr. made the family name proud by bothering Curry on the defensive side. Jaren Jackson Jr. also added some timely shot making as a matchup nightmare, and all the momentum suddenly transferred to the visitors’ side as they controlled play for extended stretches in the third quarter.
Yet there was still reason for concern even after taking the lead in the fourth quarter because Morant went down with an ankle injury and was in obvious discomfort and pain on the sidelines.
He returned with a noticeable limp but still had enough explosion to get into the lane and create scoring opportunities for himself and nis teammates. Memphis needed that to take some of the offensive pressure away from Bane and keep up with the Butler-Curry onslaught.
Still, that onslaught proved to be too much for the Grizzlies and is now Houston’s problem.
