The legend of Game 6 Klay continues. Klay Thompson made eight 3-pointers, including the shot that all but clinched the series in Friday’s 110-96 win over the Grizzlies.
A one-point game entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors out-scored Memphis 32-19 in the final period. Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points, Curry had 29 points, Wiggins came through with 18 points and Draymond Green had a monster game with 14 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
With the win, the Warriors take the series 4-2 and advance to the Western Conference Finals. The Dubs now await the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between the Suns and Mavericks, with Game 1 of the conference finals tipping off on Wednesday night.
TEAM LEADERS
Game 6 Klay
Thompson is no stranger to having big-time performances in the sixth game of a postseason series, and he certainly added another chapter to that with his performance on Friday. Thompson was stroking it out of the gate, connecting on all three of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter. He’d score 17 points in the first half and had 10 more in the third quarter, but his biggest shot of the game came in the fourth quarter.
With the Warriors up by 10 with a little over three minutes left in the game, Kevon Looney secured two offensive rebounds, the latter followed by a dish to Thompson on the left wing. The Splash Brother caught the pass and stepped right into the three, his eighth splash of the night on 14 attempts.
Fourth Quarter Run
That Thompson 3-pointer may have been the dagger, but it was a 10-0 run earlier in the period that put the Dubs in front for good. After Desmond Bane put Memphis ahead 89-87 with a step-back 3-pointer with 6:55 left in the game, Andrew Wiggins responded with a 3-pointer from the corner. Wiggins, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, picked up a steal on the ensuing possession and finished with an uncontested dunk and the next two Warriors possessions resulted in a Curry 3-pointer and a Green dunk.
Curry, who struggled with his shot for the first three quarters, went 4-for-7 from the floor in the final period with three made 3-pointers, resulting in 11 of his 29 points.
Under-the-Radar Hero
Looney may have only had four points, but he certainly impacted the game in a positive way for the Dubs. Looney re-entered the starting lineup after playing limited minutes off the bench in the first five games of the series, and he responded by grabbing 11 rebounds in the opening quarter and eight more in the fourth period to finish with 22 boards. Half of those were on the offensive glass, and four of his playoff career-high five assists came in the fourth quarter. Looney played the entire fourth quarter and logged 35 minutes, also a career-high.
Green Does It All
The Warriors’ do-it-all forward flirted with a triple-double, but wound up settling for 2022 playoff-highs in points (14) and rebounds (15), while logging a game-high eight assists. Green pushed the tempo from the start, leading the Warriors to a 23-15 advantage in fast-break scoring. On the other side of the ball, Green had a huge hand in limiting Memphis to 35 percent shooting, as he was one of the primary defenders on Jaren Jackson Jr., who made just five of his 19 shot attempts.
Splash Party on Warriors Ground
Although both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, both teams stayed in the game thanks to their 3-point shooting. Curry and Thompson combined for 14 of the Warriors’ 20 3-pointers and Memphis’ Dillon Brooks (30 points) and Desmond Bane (25 points) weren’t far behind with 11 threes between them. But the Warriors made them with the game on the line shooting 6-for-14 from distance while the Grizzlies made just two treys in the final period.
AND NOW WE WAIT
The Western Conference Finals will tip off on Wednesday at 6 p.m., just where and against who remains to be determined. Regardless of if it’s against the Suns or Mavericks, tickets for the first three home games of the conference finals will go on sale on Sunday at 10 a.m. For ticket information and to gain presale access, visit warriors.com/playoffs.
More Notables ...
- The Warriors have advanced to the Conference Finals in six of the last eight seasons, marking the first time in 30 years a Western Conference team has accomplished the feat (the Los Angeles Lakers made nine Conference Finals appearances in a 10-year span from 1982-91)… Golden State is the first team in either conference to make six appearances in an eight-year span since the Detroit Pistons did so in six-straight seasons from 2003-08.
- Golden State improved to 8-3 overall this postseason, a mark tied with Miami for the best in the NBA… The Warriors have yet to lose at Chase Center, improving to 6-0 with tonight’s win.
- The Warriors have won 20 of their last 22 playoff series dating back to the 2015 playoffs becoming the seventh team in NBA history with 21-plus playoff series wins in a 10-season span (2000's Lakers, 2000's Spurs, 1990's Bulls, 1980's Lakers, 1980's Celtics, 1960's Celtics | ESPN Stats & Info).
- Golden State improved to 7-2 in Game 6s dating back to the 2015 postseason (19-9 all-time).
- The Warriors recorded 70 rebounds, their most in a single playoff game dating back to March 28, 1969 (73 vs. LAL)… No NBA team has recorded more rebounds in a playoff game since May 4, 1983 when San Antonio grabbed 75 vs. Denver… The Warriors 25 offensive boards are their most in a playoff game dating back to May 12, 1987 (26 vs. LAL).
- Golden State improved to 3-0 this postseason when holding teams to 99-or-fewer points.
- The Warriors are 51-11 in home playoff games dating back to 2015… Golden State is 126-54 at home in the playoffs all-time.
- Tonight marked the first game since April 13, 1973 (Clyde Lee and Nate Thurmond) the Warriors had two players recorded 15-plus rebounds in the same game Kevon Looney (22) and Draymond Green (15)
- Mike Brown served as the Warriors acting head coach due to Head Coach Steve Kerr in Health & Safety Protocols … Brown improved to 13-1 when serving as the Warriors’ acting head coach during the postseason.
- Klay Thompson became the fourth player in NBA history to make eight-or-more threes in four-or-more playoff games, joining Stephen Curry, Ray Allen and Damian Lillard… He tallied a game-high-tying 30 points, his 15th-career playoff outing of 30-or-more points… Thompson has scored at least 25 points in six of the last seven Game 6s of a playoff series (in that seven-game span he’s averaging 28.1 points per game).
- Kevon Looney grabbed a playoff-career high 22 rebounds (prev. 14 on 5/20/19 at POR)… The last Warriors player to grab that many rebounds was Larry Smith who grabbed 23 rebounds on May 12, 1987 at the Lakers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals… Looney grabbed 11 rebounds in the first quarter, tying the Warriors franchise playoff record for most rebounds in a quarter in the West Coast era, set by Larry Smith at the Lakers on May 12, 1987… The 11 first-quarter rebounds are the most in a quarter for Looney in his career, regular season and playoffs (prev. eight, several times)… Tonight marked his fifth start of the postseason.
- Andrew Wiggins tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds, marking his second career playoff double-double… The 11 rebounds were a playoff career high.
- Draymond Green recorded 2022 Playoff-highs in points (14) and rebounds (15), marking his second double-double of this year’s playoffs (56th career)… he also had eight assists and one steal.
- Stephen Curry tallied his ninth game of 20-plus points this postseason… He extended his NBA postseason-record streak of games with at least one made three to 123-straight.