‘The skill, the audacity, the belief’: Steph Curry plays maestro in Memphis

The Warriors previewed what they could look like in the playoffs Tuesday night in Memphis, and now they’ll have a whole lot more control of how they enter the postseason. 

Steph Curry electrified the FedEx Forum with 52 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals. He finished with 12 3-pointers — two shy of Klay Thompson’s single-game record — in his 15th career 50-point game. 

“I mean, the guy’s 37 years old, it’s incredible,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said postgame. “Fifty-two points with people draped all over him all game long. The conditioning, the skill, the audacity, the belief — it’s just incredible to watch Steph at work. I can’t believe he’s still doing this at this age. But he’s put the work in. He’s still got it.” 

Curry didn’t carry the Warriors alone in their 134-125 win over the Grizzlies. Jimmy Butler logged 27 points, organizing Golden State in the clutch by getting to the foul line and making extra passes. Draymond Green recorded a triple-double while anchoring the defense. Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody each made a huge bucket in crunch time, and the team went a perfect 28-for-28 at the foul line. 

The Grizzlies gave the Warriors their best punch, but the Warriors countered with their playoff blueprint: get the big three of Curry, Butler, and Green to deliver and then get timely plays from the young role players. 

The win catapulted the Warriors (44-31) past Memphis into fifth place in the Western Conference and simultaneously gave them the head-to-head tiebreaker. When the Warriors acquired Butler, they were 25-26 and in 10th place. Now, for the first time this season, they’re operating in a position of relative strength in the standings. 

“When we’re coming down the stretch, you look around the standings and see what other guys do, hope other guys do, this and that,” wing Moses Moody said postgame. “But you can control your destiny when you beat those teams.” 

The Warriors have seven games left. Their next three are against three of the four teams ahead of them in the West (Lakers at No. 3; Nuggets at No. 4; and Rockets at No. 2) to extend a stretch of games that will feel like playoff matchups — just like Tuesday in Memphis. 

The last time the Warriors came to Beale Street, the Grizzlies held Curry to zero field goals in a 51-point Warriors loss. The crowd jammed to “Whoop That Trick” toward the end of the blowout, asserting the swagger that comes with such a shellacking.

In the rubber match, the Grizzlies deployed their same strategy against Curry. Rookie guard Jaylen Wells face-guarded him everywhere he went. Memphis pressed him, trapped him, and even set up behind him in an effort to force him inside the arc. 

Wells and anyone else stuck on Curry roughed him up with grabs and yanks that were so relentless Curry got into it with Desmond Bane and Santi Aldama by the Warriors’ bench late. 

But Curry, recharged after a week off recovering from his pelvic contusion, had more counters. He cut off the ball and sprung free from his defenders with dribble handoffs and hard ball screens. 

Knowing the stakes of the game, Curry came out firing. He dropped 19 points in the first quarter, hitting his first five shots and helping the Warriors to an early 17-point lead. 

Butler also converted his first five field goal attempts. If this was essentially a playoff game, Playoff Jimmy sensed it. Late in the fourth, he fouled out Jaren Jackson Jr. with his signature pump fake in the lane. Butler finished 12-for-12 at the foul line. 

“Jimmy saved our season,” Kerr said. “The trade saved our season.” 

Curry said he’ll have to wear his protective pad around his waist for at least the regular season as remnants of discomfort remain from his pelvic contusion. You couldn’t tell he was in any pain Tuesday. 

Curry drained eight 3-pointers in the first half and 11 through three quarters. He sank a corner three off a Green steal and a heat-check, two-for-one trey off the catch to end the first half. 

Catch-and-shoot from the corner off a Draymond Green steal? Book it. Two-for-one opportunity at the end of the half? Swish. Over Zach Edey, fading away from a defender, on a double-pump, Curry couldn’t miss. 

Research is inconclusive on whether the hot hand exists in a tangible way. But confidence sure does. 

The Grizzlies tried Ja Morant on Curry. They tried Scotty Pippen Jr. Desmond Bane got a crack at him. Luke Kennard even found himself chasing him around. They held and grabbed, roughing Curry up whenever they could. 

No dice. 

“You’ve got to remember to play the game when you’re sitting there watching him do stuff like that,” Moody said. 

After Curry’s 11th three, the Grizzlies finally started to send two defenders to him, forcing the ball out of his hands. Edey, the slow-footed center, more frequently played up to the level of the screen instead of in drop coverage, which Curry destroyed. 

Curry only hit one 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. He couldn’t close out the Grizzlies alone. 

Enter Butler and the rest of the supporting cast. 

Podziemski flew in for a putback layup off one of Curry’s missed threes. Butler fouled out Jackson and scored 10 of his 27 in the fourth. With 40 seconds left, Moody hit a corner three to put Golden State up eight. 

The Warriors’ goal since the All-Star break has been to avoid the play-in game. But their 19-4 record with Butler in the lineup has given them the chance to climb into not just a true series, but possibly even home-court advantage in the first round. 

Ever the showman, Curry has a habit of elevating his play to match a situation’s stakes. Tuesday was no different, and now the Warriors control their destiny.