Although it's still the final stretch of the regular season, Tuesday's contest between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies might be as close as it gets to a playoff atmosphere in the regular season. In a highly anticipated matchup between the Western Conference's No. 5 and No. 6 seed, the Warriors and Grizzlies lived up to the hype.
The Warriors landed the opening haymaker with a 45-point first quarter. Steph Curry set the tone early, burying five 3-pointers in the opening frame for a red-hot 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. However, Golden State's early 13-point lead wasn't enough, with Ja Morant and the Grizzlies striking back in the second quarter.
For the next 36 minutes of the game, the two teams traded shots in a highly entertaining contest.
Curry charged the Warriors with a ridiculous 52-point performance with 12 made 3-pointers to go along with 10 rebounds, eight assists, five steals and a block in 37 minutes. Despite Curry's barrage of triples, the Grizzlies continued to answer the bell.
That's a DOZEN 3s for Steph 馃槺 pic.twitter.com/93TZtp8IKC
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 2, 2025
Heading into the fourth quarter, the game was tied at 103. As Curry carried the Warriors through most of the game, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody each came up with a clutch moment down the stretch to close out the Grizzlies.
In the fourth quarter, Butler tallied 10 of his 27 points with six made free throws. Green added six rebounds, four assists and a steal in the final frame.
With the Warriors clinging to a three-point lead in the fourth quarter, Curry launched a potential dagger 3-pointer that rattled out before Podziemski came crashing in over Morant for a timely rebound and tip to push Golden State's advantage to five with 1:11 remaining on the clock.
Buddy's reaction after this Podz put-back 馃ぃ pic.twitter.com/YAVpBOCgb0
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 2, 2025
The very next possession, Moody knocked down a dagger 3-pointer from the corner to give the Warriors a commanding eight-point lead with 40 seconds remaining in the game.
With their 134-125 win on Tuesday, the Warriors officially moved into the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoff race and now hold the tiebreaker over the Grizzlies.
The Warriors will wrap up their six-game road swing with a contest against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday evening in Hollywood.
This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
This article originally appeared on Warriors Wire: Steph Curry's 52 points leads Warriors past Grizzlies in thriller
