Tag: head coach Steve Kerr

But the Warriors were with Stephen Curry and his on-point 3-point shooting in a 113-104 victory. The newly crowned NBA 3-point career record holder was 8-for-14 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 46 points, with Draymond Green providing nine assists to help Golden State improve to a league-best 16-2 at home.

“Vintage, vintage Steph,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “For me, that’s as good as it get against a very physical defense with great size. Over the past 10 or 12 games, Memphis has had the best defensive rating in the league. So they’re a really good team defensively and for Steph to go out and get 46 … he showed showed every bit of his talent.”

Curry, 33, has scored 40 or more points five times this season and done so 54 times in his career.

“I want to shoot and stuff, so I never lose confidence,” said Curry, who acknowledged the hoopla over his record-setting feat came with some pressure. “I keep working on my game and having the right perspective about the big picture.”

Green was, if anything, even more intense than usual, and for a reason: He did not like losing to the Grizzlies in last season’s play-in game, nor in October on the Warriors’ home floor. “This was a game I wanted to win bad,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve got guys down but it’s a mental thing as well when you’re playing a team that plays you tough every game. I was a little more riled up this game, just because it was a very important game.”

“You get a chip on your shoulder and understand it’s our home court,” Curry said.

The Warriors, with three of their top five scorers out of action per the league’s health-and-safety protocols, had Gary Payton II on the floor to start the game for just the second time this season, and he scored a season-high 22 points, sinking four 3-pointers, including one that helped preserve the lead in the final minute.

He also did some strong work defending Memphis’ top player, Ja Morant, who scored 30 against the Warriors in the Grizzlies’ win in October but was held to 21 on 6-for-15 shooting Thursday. “I was just trying to make things uncomfortable for him,” Payton said.

“When you have a matchup like that where you’ve got to stop the head of the snake, it takes a lot of energy and it’ll take your legs,” Green said of Payton’s assignment. “He continued to push through and took those shots and I thought that was big. His aggressiveness was key for us. He stepped up big time.”

The Warriors had 11 3-pointers in all from non-Curry players.

Otto Porter Jr. was on the floor to start the game for the first time this season and he recorded three blocks in the first 2½ minutes. He finished with a game-high nine rebounds. “Porter was huge,” Green said.

“Otto made so many big plays tonight in terms of his rebounding, his blocked shots,” Kerr said.

The bench played aggressively on the defensive side, keeping the Warriors within striking distance with the Grizzlies up early. Nemanja Bjelica hit two of his three 3-pointers in the first, and Juan Toscano-Anderson found Moses Moody in the lane for a slick finger-roll.

The Grizzlies let loose in the early going, shooting over 70% much of the first quarter, but missed four of their final shots in the quarter with Green the only starter on the floor for the Warriors. That shooting slump continued into the second quarter, with Memphis sinking only five of its first 19 shots. Golden State kept pace by sinking the occasional 3.

The Grizzlies’ biggest lead was seven, when Jaren Jackson Jr. was gifted an easy basket on a throw-in, but Jonathan Kuminga hit a 3, and Curry, Payton and Porter added their own treys before the half. Green fed Tocsano-Anderson cutting down the lane for a dunk that cut the margin to two with 1:13 left. After the teams traded free throws, the Warriors had a chance to go into the break tied when Bjelica drew a foul with a second left. He missed one, Curry sank a technical assessed on Dillon Brooks, then Bjelica missed his final foul shot.

Half a minute into the third quarter, Porter gave the Warriors their first lead since the opening four minutes with a 3, with another assist from Green.

“When you’re without several key guys, especially scorers, guys who you rely on for points and shooting, you pretty much have to find a couple of guys making shots each night and tonight we got that obviously with Gary and JK, and Otto, Belly, those two had five 3’s between them,” Kerr said. “So the margin for is definitely slimmer and we have to do what we did: defend and find ways to score.”

Golden State opened a seven-point lead in the third quarter, capped by Payton’s third 3 of the game, but the Memphis bench fueled a little run to tie it, with De’Anthony Melton providing three rebounds, a jumper and a free throw, and Xavier Tillman two layups and a dunk.

The Warriors took a one-point lead into the final quarter, which Curry opened with — wait for it — another 3-pointer. They sustained their lead the rest of the way, but when the Grizzlies threated with five minutes left, cutting it to one after Green was assessed a T, Curry re-entered the game. Green found him on a break, the layup pushed the lead to 97-93. He hit another 3 at the 3:25 mark to push the advantage to 102-96.

Memphis refused to go away, with Melton again playing a role, nabbing two steals in a minute, plus a layup to tie it 102-102 with two minutes left. The Warriors responded with a seven-point run to put the game out of reach with less than 20 seconds left.