Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler lift the Warriors past the
CNN– The Golden State Warriors and Orlando Magic punched their tickets to the playoffs with wins Tuesday night in the NBA’s play-in tournament. The Magic made easy work of the Atlanta Hawks while the Warriors played a nail-biter versus the Memphis Grizzlies.
In a game loaded with momentum swings and big plays, the Warriors emerged with a thrilling 121-116 win in Tuesday’s nightcap.
Both groups’ stars came to play Tuesday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Grizzlies sprinted out to an early lead with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. doing all the scoring for Memphis.
However the Warriors rapidly caught fire and went on a prolonged 29-7 run that saw Golden State surge from 9 points down to a 13-point lead later on in the first quarter.
Super Star Stephen Curry and trade-deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler III were carrying the load for the Warriors as their lead grew to as numerous as 20 points in the second quarter. Butler netted 21 first-half points for Golden State while Curry added 15.
But Memphis began cutting into the Warriors’ lead, and midway through the third quarter, the Grizzlies cut the deficit to a single point on an and-one play from Morant.
The play proved essential, nevertheless, as Morant boiled down awkwardly on the foot of Warriors safeguard Pal Hield and rolled his ankle. Morant needed to leave the game after finishing the 3-point play.
Playing without their star guard, the Grizzlies kept battling. Early in the fourth quarter
, Memphis connected the game with a 3-pointer from Desmond Bane and after that took a brief lead on a transition lay-up from John Konchar. After about six minutes on the bench, Morant returned to the game strolling with a small limp. He quickly made his existence felt with a midrange jumper to connect the game at 98.
Golden State pulled ahead again with more heroics from Butler and Curry.
A Butler jumper followed by a set of clutch 3-pointers from Curry provided the Warriors a six-point cushion with one minute staying in the game.
However simply when it appeared like Golden State might have put Memphis away, the Grizzlies found another trigger of hope. Two doubtful nasty calls allowed the Grizzlies to cut the deficit to a single point with 14 seconds staying.
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr was smart sufficient to get the ball into the hands of Curry, among the very best free throw shooters in NBA history. A set of shots from the charity stripe from Curry put the Warriors’ lead back to three points.
Memphis advanced the ball to half court with a timeout, but then forward Santi Aldama might not find anybody to inbound the ball to, resulting in a 5-second infraction and a turnover.
A couple more free tosses from Curry, who was 13 of 13 from the line, iced the win for the Warriors.
Butler led all scorers with 38 points, his biggest scoring night as a member of the Warriors. Curry finished with 37 points.
Bane led Memphis with 30 points, while Morant scored 22 points playing on a hurt ankle. Rookie center Zach Edey had a huge night with 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
Golden State declares the Western Conference 7th seed win the win and will now take a trip to Houston for a first-round series with the second-seeded Rockets beginning Sunday.
Memphis on the other hand will have another opportunity to make the playoffs with a do-or-die game at home on Friday versus the winner of Wednesday’s play-in game between the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings.
Earlier in the evening, the Orlando Magic clinched the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference after routing the Atlanta
Hawks 120-95 in the first game. Cole Anthony came off the bench to score a team-high 26 points and had six assists at the Kia Center in Orlando to raise the Magic to their 2nd consecutive playoff look.
The Magic will deal with the reigning NBA champion and No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven preliminary series starting Sunday at TD Garden. Orlando was 2-1 against the Celtics this season.
The Magic led by as many as 22 points in the very first half, but the Hawks would cut the lead to 3 with 2:30 left in the third quarter. Orlando took control in the 4th quarter nevertheless, outscoring Atlanta 41-22.
Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. completed with 19 points and 7 rebounds and power forward Paolo Banchero added 17 points, nine rebounds and seven helps.
Hawks protect Trae Young, who had a game-high 28 points in addition to 6 helps, was ejected in the 4th quarter with 4:47 staying in the game and Atlanta down 107-85.
Young picked up two fast technical fouls after he tossed the ball at one official following a rating, and later on when he refused to offer another authorities the ball.
The Hawkshave another chance to make the postseason as they will handle the winner of Wednesday’s Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls play-in game Friday in Atlanta for the last area in the East.
The winner of Friday’s contest will play the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the preliminary beginning Sunday at Rocket Arena.