SAN FRANCISCO — A violent right hook into the air. Followed by a flex. And a yell. Thunderous claps. Then another screaming flex.
Before Chase Center was aware of what happened, Stephen Curry was in mid-celebration. Animated as ever. The Golden State Warriors’ “hellafied Batman,” as Jimmy Butler called him, was turned all the way up.
It shared the emotional high of a dagger 3-pointer. Or a chase-down block, like the one Brandin Podziemski was denied. But this was a clutch, game-sealing, disaster-avoiding, season-saving, five-second violation by Memphis.
Curry scored 15 of the Warriors’ last 19 points in Tuesday’s Play-In Tournament game. Another display for his late-game portfolio. Yet, nothing was settled, and the hosts weren’t safe to exhale, until the improbable Grizzlies turnover with 5.4 seconds remaining.
Relief is its own brand of exhilaration.
🗣️ DEFENSE
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 16, 2025
“I don’t know exactly what point in the year it was,” Curry said, “when we were below .500, and after a 12-3 start, emotional roller coaster of a season. For us to be able to climb our way back into relevancy, and then trick off a couple opportunities to get it done within the (regular season). It just came down to having one game where we just get a win however we could, and thankfully it happened.
“And now with some clarity on who we are playing in a playoff series, a great Houston team that has had an amazing year. Just a sense of relief that we have something to look forward to now, and excited about the challenge.”
They’ve won championships. And monster playoff battles. And epic road games. Yet the jubilation from Tuesday’s 121-116 win over the Grizzlies was a Play-In bliss the Warriors have never known. A joy perhaps unworthy of their reputation. But after a two-month sprint from the trade deadline to the actual playoffs, it was a joy earned.
The Warriors aren’t a No. 7 seed in essence. The acquisition of Jimmy Butler elevated this team above Play-In quality. Since the trade, only Oklahoma City and Boston have a higher win percentage, which only underscores the Warriors’ impotence before Butler.
But they’ve done it. Climbed out of the depths. Escaped the grasp of futility. Made it back to the second season, where they’ve made their living. After living the better part of the last two seasons in mediocrity, the Warriors couldn’t hide their euphoria. No team has won more games over the last 15 seasons than Golden State. Yet their sense of accomplishment Tuesday night seemed to warrant champagne in the locker room.
“What’s that sparkling grape juice you give the kids?” Kevon Looney said with a smile. “That Martinelli’s. Yeah, we need some of that. Our first Play-In win.”
The agony of defeat subverted. The thrill of reprieve beheld.
It packed such angst because the Warriors just don’t do these one-off games well. At least not the ones with middling stakes. Game 6 on the road in Boston in the 2022 Finals? Down 2-1 in Memphis in 2015? Game 7 in Houston in 2018 with a dynasty on the line? Game 7 against LeBron James in the face of history in 2016? The Warriors know the highest levels of NBA intensity.
But somehow, these middling stakes games, the ones they should win, like the Play-In, like Game 80 against a nothing-to-play-for San Antonio, tends to bring the slapstick out of the Warriors. Why?
“It’s just our journey,” Draymond Green said, shaking his head with a smile as he cut the tape off his ankles, sweat still dripping off his nose. “We here now, though.”
The Icarus spirit embedded in the Warriors’ style of play seems to always find a way to make it harrowing. As could be expected, whatever could happen Tuesday that would push the Warriors to the brink of defeat did happen. The Warriors went cold from 3. Desmond Bane turned into Larry Bird. Ja Morant sprained his ankle, and it galvanized the Grizzlies. Of course, the Warriors turned the ball over at the most inopportune of times. A few calls went against them at just the right time. A symphony of events aimed at inducing a cardiac event in the Bay Area.
But perhaps the Warriors subconsciously choreograph desperation because they have a rescuer. They play with their food until they find themselves in danger. The luxury of legends in tow.
“Feels great,” Butler said. “I want everybody to be happy — for sure Steph, he deserves it, what he’s done for, hell, the game of basketball, not only this city and this organization. He’s in it for the long haul. He wants to win, every single game, every single possession. And I know I want to win a championship. So he needs his — what, this will be No. 5 for him? So he needs one more.
“… It’s like I always say, you’re never really out of any game when you have him on your team. And if you have a lead of five, he can easily take your lead to 15 to 17, maybe even 20 all by himself.”
Curry came curling off a screen and into a left-corner 3, with 1:50 remaining. The next time down, he had the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey in front of him and the 6-1 Scotty Pippen Jr. chasing him. Curry stepped back, pump faked once. Then again. Eluding Pippen twice before drilling the left-wing 3.
UNREAL
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 16, 2025
It was a moment of heroics that shouldn’t have been necessary, but it inevitably would be.
No one seemed to take the near-defeat as an ominous sign, however disastrous it would have been. It was the necessary storm before the calm. The seven-game series is their comfort zone. Their preferred chaos. Where it’s less about getting hot or the whims of chance. But a marathon that measures quality.
“Our goal is to get to the playoffs so we can make something special happen,” Draymond Green said. “It’s not necessarily just to get there and the job’s done.
“We know what it takes to win at a high level. So that’s the focus. But yeah, the goal is to get to the playoffs and win. So it’s good to be here.”
(Photo of Stephen Curry during Tuesday’s game: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
