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In a game that featured the ejection of Grizzlies defensive ace
Dillon Brooks and stitches to Warriors star Draymond Green's
face, Memphis avenged a 117-116 home loss in Game 1 as the
best-of-seven travels to San Francisco for Games 3 and 4 on
Saturday and Monday.
Morant's late flurry began after Stephen Curry nailed a
3-pointer that gave third-seeded Golden State a 95-91 lead with
4:33 to go.
The young standout's step-back 3-pointer with 2:28 remaining put
the Grizzlies on top 98-97. After Curry countered with a layup,
Morant dropped in a 7-foot floater to give Memphis the lead for
good with 1:42 to go.
Golden State hung within 102-101 with 40.2 seconds remaining
after Green dropped in a layup, but Morant countered with
another floater with 30.7 seconds left to open a three-point
advantage.
Following Klay Thompson's traveling violation, Morant iced the
win with two free throws with 13.2 seconds remaining. He equaled
his point total in a loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round of
last season's playoffs.
Morant shot 5-for-12 on 3-pointers, helping the Grizzlies
outscore Golden State 42-21 from beyond the arc.
He also added eight rebounds and eight assists, while Ziaire
Williams chipped in 14 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 12
before fouling out, and Brandon Clarke added 10.
Despite hitting just 3 of 11 3-point attempts, Curry led the
Warriors with 27 points. Jordan Poole added 20, while Andrew
Wiggins had 16 and Thompson, who went just 2-for-12 on treys,
had 12.
Green finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to go with seven
assists and six points. Curry also had nine rebounds while tying
Morant with eight assists.
In a tight game from start to finish, the Grizzlies led 56-51 at
halftime, but two early incidents were much more significant
than the five-point difference.
Just 2:52 into the game, Brooks was ejected for a hard swipe at
Gary Payton II's head on a layup attempt. Brooks was slapped
with a flagrant foul-2, which includes an automatic ejection,
while Payton was lost for the rest of the game with a left elbow
injury incurred on his hard fall.
Seconds later, Green took an inadvertent elbow to the right side
of his face from Xavier Tillman, forcing him to leave the game
and requiring stitches. He was able to return to start the
second quarter.
Morant had 23 of his 47 points in the first half, during which
the Warriors missed 15 of 19 from long range. The Grizzlies
missed 13 of 20 treys.
--Field Level Media
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