MEMPHIS (CBS SF/AP) — With Draymond Green watching from the locker room, Jordan Poole scored 31 points off the bench and Klay Thompson hit a game-winning 3-pointer to lift to the Golden State Warriors to a hard-fought 117-116 opening game second-round NBA playoff victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
With 0:36 seconds to go, the undersized Warriors scrambled and found Thompson, who scored 15 points in the contest, as he came off a Andrew Wiggins screen at the three-point line. He calmly drained the shot to take the lead.
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Thompson then missed two free throws with 6.7 seconds left but the referees could not determine who last touched the ball as it rolled out of bounds and called for a jump ball.
Memphis won the jump ball before taking a timeout with 3.6 seconds remaining to set up the final play. The Grizzlies ran a play similar to Ja Morant’s winning last-second layup in Game 5 of the first round but Morant’s layup went over the rim.
“Jordan was amazing tonight,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s so great to have Jordan, Steph, Klay together with Wiggs. Multiple playmakers with different points of attack.”
The undersized Warriors were also amazing on the boards as a team. They out-rebounded Memphis 51-47 overall and battled to a 16-16 draw on the offensive boards.
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Poole and Wiggins each had eight rebounds with Gary Payton II chipping in six with four of those offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Curry scored 24 points with Wiggins adding 17.
Morant finished with 34 points and 10 assists and Jaren Jackson Jr. matched his season high with six 3-pointers and had a career-high 33 points as Memphis’ first pair of teammates to score at least 30 in a playoff game.
The win came despite Green being ejected for a flagrant foul shortly before halftime. He originally was called for a foul on Brandon Clarke with 1:18 left in the second quarter. The officials reviewed the play where Green had hold of Clarke’s jersey after a missed layup. Clarke went down on his stomach, though it appeared Green tried to help hold him up as Clarke hit the court.
Officials took their time reviewing the play as Memphis fans chanted “Throw him out!” Then they determined Green committed a Flagrant 2, sending him to the locker room with six points, four rebounds, three assists and five turnovers in 17 minutes.
Memphis led 54-53 at the time of the Green foul and the Grizzlies took a 61-55 lead into halftime.
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Curry scored 13 and Poole had 10 in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored Memphis 36-29 and led 91-90 after the third. Golden State was 14 of 21 shooting in the third, including 5 of 7 outside the arc.
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.