Form held in the NBA's Play-In Tournament until the final overtime moments of the final game, when the young ninth place Memphis Grizzlies took out the eighth place Golden State Warriors on Golden State's home court to earn the Western Conference's eighth playoff seed. Ja Morant led Memphis with 35 points, including two big baskets to clinch the 117-112 overtime victory, and he also had six assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Stephen Curry scored a game-high 39 points on 13-28 field goal shooting, but he also had a game-high seven turnovers as the Warriors coughed up the ball 21 times.
The Warriors' sloppy ballhandling hurt them at the start of the game. Golden State committed three turnovers in the first four minutes, and Memphis took an 18-6 lead while shooting 7-7 from the field. There is a natural tendency to focus on what happens at the end of a game, but that careless beginning meant that Golden State spent most of the game fighting an uphill battle.
The Warriors rallied to take a 27-26 lead before the end of the first quarter, but the Grizzlies were up 30-29 heading into the second quarter. When Golden State called a timeout at the 3:17 mark of the second quarter, the Grizzlies had extended their advantage to 57-42. Each of the 10 Grizzlies who had entered the game had scored as Memphis led 62-49 at halftime. Morant had 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists to pace the balanced attack. Stephen Curry scored 17 first half points, but he shot just 5-14 from the field. Memphis pushed the lead to 67-53 in the third quarter, but only clung to a 78-73 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Memphis seemed to be on the verge of securing victory before Golden State scored nine straight points to tie the score at 97 on two Curry free throws with 1:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kyle Anderson hit two free throws to put Memphis up 99-97 with 55 seconds left, but then Andrew Wiggins' layup tied the score at 99 at the 33 second mark. The Grizzlies committed a 24 second violation after a disjointed possession to give the Warriors a chance to win, but Draymond Green missed a layup as time expired in regulation.
The teams traded baskets in an exciting overtime period, but Memphis landed the final blows: a three pointer by Xavier Tillman, followed by a pair of Morant jumpers to make the score 114-109 with 4.5 seconds remaining. Jordan Poole hit a three pointer with 2.2 seconds left to trim the margin to two, but then Desmond Bane closed out the scoring with a three point play.
Curry has already been announced as an MVP finalist, meaning that he finished no lower than third in the voting. Imagine for a moment if, say, Kobe Bryant or Russell Westbrook had failed to win an elimination game at home against a lower seeded team, and thus missed the playoffs. What would the headline be? What would the narrative be? During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Kobe Bryant was more productive and more dominant offensively than Curry was this season, and Bryant made the All-Defensive First Team during both of those campaigns. In 2006, Bryant's Lakers--with no other All-Stars--pushed the Phoenix Suns (led by MVP Steve Nash plus a host of All-Star caliber players) to seven games in the first round of the playoffs. Nevertheless, the media narrative was that Bryant could not win the MVP because his team did not win enough games. So, how can Curry have a top three finish in the MVP voting while playing for a team that finished eighth only to then "play out" of the playoffs? Nikola Jokic deserves to win the MVP, but part of me wants to see Curry win as lasting testament in the record book to the stupidity and hypocrisy of the MVP voters.
It was hard to miss the snide remarks about "playoff Westbrook" after his Wizards lost the first Play-In game versus Boston (a team that has appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals three of the past four years)--but Westbrook led his team to a blowout win against Indiana to clinch a playoff berth. "Playoff Westbrook" is a reality this season, while "Playoff Curry" is just wishful thinking this season. Where are the basketball geniuses who declared that the Warriors' offense functions better without Kevin Durant?
Curry put up impressive numbers versus the Grizzlies after his slow start, but the bottom line is that he is the "people's choice" for MVP and he could not deliver a win at home in an elimination game against a young team with no playoff experience. If Bryant or Westbrook had produced a similar result then they would be criticized for failing, even if Bryant scored 50 points or if Westbrook put up 20-20-20. It is fascinating how winning matters so much except for when the narrative is that winning does not matter.
Just to be crystal clear, I think that Curry is a great player--all I am saying is that the MVP voters repeatedly display stupidity and hypocrisy when they twist logic into knots to explain their inconsistent criteria. None of this is Curry's fault; he plays hard, and he is very productive--he was just not more valuable this season than Nikola Jokic or Giannis Antetokounmpo, who should have finished 1-2 in the balloting. If winning matters, if elevating a depleted roster to the playoffs matters, then Curry was demonstrably not as valuable this season as Westbrook. COVID-19 and injuries decimated the Wizards, but thanks to Westbrook averaging a triple double for the season--for a record fourth time in the past five seasons--the Wizards recovered to earn a playoff berth. Westbrook's 2020-21 campaign may be the most underrated great season in NBA history. Curry's 2020-21 campaign was productive and worthy of All-NBA Team recognition, but if he wins the MVP it may be the most overrated great season in NBA history.
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