45.7 seconds before the end of the game, Curry hit a second free throw and the Warriors rebounded 94-93. This was the warriors' first lead in the game, and after nearly 48 minutes of being held in the water by the Grizzlies, the Warriors finally struggled to surface for a breath. After this breath eased, the Warriors did not give the Grizzlies another chance. In the end, the Warriors narrowly defeated the Grizzlies 101-98 in Game 4 of the series, leading 3-1 to get the game point.
How should I rate this game?
It was a game of pre-game when both sides encountered a surprise situation, warriors coach Steve Kerr tested positive for covid-19 and could not coach, and chief assistant coach Mike Brown became interim manager. On the Grizzlies side, Ja-Morant was absent due to a right knee injury, and Adams, who had not been in the main rotation before, entered the starting lineup, and the Grizzlies were forced to change sides.
In terms of the content of the game, at best, it was a defensive battle. But anyone who has watched the game knows that this game is full of empty three-pointers and low-level mistakes. The Grizzlies plummeted without Morant's ability to develop offense, and many times they had to rely on Jaren Jackson to force the basket and Kyle Anderson to attack Jordan Poole to score points. On the Warriors' side, an "iron" is enough to generalize, and the Splash Brothers and Pooler combined to shoot only 4 of 24 three-pointers.
In the game scene, the two sides played fiercely. But compared to the previous three games, this match was really not smoke, and the expected hot showdown did not appear.
In the first three games, the referees continued to steal the scene, and there were some big defensive moves in the players on both sides, but today none of them appeared. This is a good thing, the grudge turns over, and basketball returns to its essence.
In the first three games, the Warriors and the Grizzlies staged a very good tit-for-tat confrontation. The attack and defense in the last moments of the first game, Thompson's two missed free throws and the dramatization of Morant's failure to hit the basket, the second anti-heaven performance of Morant's key moments, the targeted adjustments made at the tactical level of Kerr in the third game, and the Warriors' hot outside feel are all impressive, which should have become the focus of the media and fans. However, those malicious fouls, referee penalties, defensive moves, and unnecessary attritions on the field have deviated from the rhythm, and the focus of public opinion has shifted from the game itself to those controversial events.
In the first game, Draymond Green's malicious foul against Brandon Clark was sentenced to a second-degree malicious foul, which caused controversy, and many people complained for Green, and Green had a war of words with Clark after the game.
In the second game, Dillon Brooks made a malicious foul on Gary Payton Jr. shortly after the opening, and he himself received a second-degree malicious foul and was expelled and received an additional ban, not to mention, which also led to the reimbursement of the series of fractures in Payton Jr.'s left elbow. After the game, Kerr, Curry and others collectively held Brooks accountable.
In the third game, which had been early in garbage time, Cole's adjustment was well received. But in the fourth quarter, Morant retired from the game with a right knee injury, and after the game, Grizzlies coach Jenkins shelled Poole to injure Morant and triggered a new round of war of words, Poole himself, the Warriors general did not think that Poole deliberately injured Morant, but Morant and Jenkins insisted that Poole was the culprit that caused Morante's injury.
These disputes are superimposed, and it is conceivable that the fourth game may be a fierce battle filled with smoke. Many people wonder whether the Warriors will retaliate against Brooks after his comeback. Morant is absent due to injury, will the Grizzlies give the Warriors more strength?
Thankfully, none of these non-basketball-level off-the-board moves have appeared. Before the game, Jenkins sent a blessing to Cole, who was infected with the new crown virus. Brooks apologized to Payton Jr., saying he would retract his hand for malicious fouls against Payton Jr. if he went back in time. Morant shook hands with Poole and turned him into a jade veil.
In the game, the referee has maintained the same blowing scale for most of the time, and today the referee did not have some controversial blowing penalties that affected the emotions of both sides like in the previous three games, and the scale was relatively loose, allowing players from both sides to fight. In the fierce confrontation, the technical actions and physical fitness of both sides have been affected somewhat, which is also a reason why the overall offensive efficiency of both sides is low.
Neither player had much technical movement, and Brooks was still desperately pestering Curry, but his movements converged a lot, and the small moves that had been caught before basically did not appear. Green, Jackson Jr., Adams, the basket guards are clean when it comes to maintaining a high-intensity defense.
As of now, the playoffs may be the most consistent, least controversial, and cleanest defensive action between the two sides in this year's playoffs.
As a result, the game is most discussed as the Warriors' headwind reversal, Curry's last-minute consecutive kills, Otto Porter's key combos when the team was behind double digits, Green's last-minute defense, and the tenacity of no bears, rather than the things that have nothing to do with the content of the game.
Before the game, the AMERICAN media "The Athletic" experts John Hollinger and David Aldridge each wrote an article, the main theme of the two is that the playoffs will be full of grudges, both sides will play with hatred for each other, some games will be very ugly because of the fierce confrontation, but this is the best playoff.
There is nothing wrong with this view itself, but there are also limits to grievances and confrontations, and you can't hurt your opponents first. Even if the Warriors and the Grizzlies want to understand in the fourth game, the confrontation is confrontation, but it is meaningless to do some dangerous actions with grudges and emotions, causing opponents and their own attrition. Returning to basketball itself, fighting strategy, fighting execution, fighting stars, these are the essence of basketball, and it is also the playoffs that everyone wants to see.