Warriors advance to West final

[May 16, 2015]  (The Sports Xchange) - In less than three minutes, the Golden State Warriors went from nearly allowing the Memphis Grizzlies to erase a 15-point deficit to cruising to a 108-95 series-clinching victory in GameSix of the Western Conference semi-finals on Friday.

Warriors guard Stephen Curry's 62-foot heave as time expired in the third quarter capped an 11-4 scoring run over the final 2:37 of the period and gave Golden State a 76-68 lead going into a fourth quarter, where they rolled to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1976.

The Warriors will face either the Houston Rockets or Los Angeles Clippers in the conference finals.

Curry finished with 32 points, with 24 of them coming on 8-of-13 shooting from three-point range.

Warriors guard Klay Thompson had 20 points and forward Draymond Green had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Memphis got a team-high 21 points and 15 rebounds from Marc Gasol and 16 points from veteran swingman Vince Carter.

But the Grizzlies, looking to force a Game Seven at Golden State on Sunday, shot just 37.4 percent from the field and made just 4-of-16 three-point attempts.

Still, they managed to cut a 15-point first-half deficit down to one with 3:55 left in the third quarter.

But Warriors reserve Andre Iguodola (nine points, seven assists, six rebounds) answered with a three-pointer with 2:37 left to push Golden State's lead back to four.

Festus Ezeli followed with a layup, Iguodola made another there and then Curry stuck the dagger into Memphis with his 62-foot shot to end the period.

(Compiled by Jahmal Corner; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.