Stephen Curry: “We’ve been here before and we know how to pull off games like this”

The Golden State Warriors ended Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals with a 101-98 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. Overcoming adversity was the theme of this one as the Dubs found a path to victory despite having their worst performance of the postseason. The first half featured a patented Warriors’ slow start, however this time, the team did not pick things up until the fourth quarter. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were clutch in the closing minutes as the Warriors beat the Grizzlies to take the 3-1 series lead

Here are some of the takeaways from the Warriors postgame pressers:

Mike Brown Discusses the Game

In a game where the team’s emotions were all over the place, acting head coach Mike Brown fittingly called it one “helluva football game” in reference to the gritty and grimy nature of Monday night’s performance.

It started just hours before tip-off when Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19. Head assistant and newly hired coach for the Sacramento Kings, Mike Brown took his place. However, in his postgame presser, Brown said it was a team effort to replace Kerr as he gave credit to Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green for stepping up as player coaches.

Emotions were high as the Warriors struggled to get anything going offensively. Brown said they played a bit “frantically” early on as evidenced by all of the unforced turnovers. He added that once they figured out that part, the Warriors were able to settle in for good shot opportunities on offense.

Here’s Brown discussing the game:

Warriors Players Discuss the Game

The Warriors struggled mightily in the first half of this one. Their three point shot was completely nonexistent as they went 0-of-15 from deep until Otto Porter Jr. — who seemed to always come up big whenever the Warriors needed it most — hit a three with 3:23 left in the first half. Despite their poor offense, the Warriors were only down 3 points thanks to almost equally poor shooting from the Grizzlies at 35.4% from the field.

This trend continued through the second half, but just when it seemed like all hope was lost, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green rose to the occasion. Curry’s 32 points carried the offense, but his true genius shined as he immediately put his in-game struggles behind him, closing out the game with 18 fourth quarter points. Meanwhile, Green provided leadership and energy to a team in desperate need of it. His 11 rebounds led the Warriors and his game-saving block on Jaren Jackson Jr. sealed the victory for Golden State.

Here’s what the Warriors players had to say after the game:

Quote of the Night

The quote of the night belongs to Stephen Curry who sums up how crazy of a 24-hour stretch it was for the team:

Recap

With this win, the Warriors take a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Grizzlies. The series will now move back to Memphis as Golden State attempts to clinch the series in Game 5 on Wednesday night.