Stephen Curry takes over late to win play-in versus Grizzlies

Curry scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors held on to beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 121-116. With the Warriors clinging to a two-point lead, Curry hit two late three-pointers, one where he duped Scotty Pippen Jr. with a series of pump fakes. Then, Curry salted the game away by making all four of his free throws in the final minute.

He also contributed to a huge defensive stop late, when the Warriors forced a five-second violation on a late Grizzlies in-bounds play. Coach Steve Kerr almost substituted Curry out, but he helped harass the inbounder into a turnover.

Curry got a lot of help from teammate Jimmy Butler, who referred to Curry as "Batman" after the game. If Butler was the "Robin," he seemed like much more than a Boy Wonder Tuesday night. Butler scored 38 points and got to the foul line for 18 free throws, while dishing six assists, collecting seven rebounds and stealing the ball three times.

The 75 combined points from Butler and Curry almost weren't enough. Desmond Bane made five three-pointers and tallied 30 points. Rookie Zach Edey grabbed 17 rebounds over the smaller Warriors, scoring 14 points, turning the ball over four times and miraculously staying in the game with five fouls after a replay review exonerated him from fouling out on a bang-bang play with Draymond Green.

The officiating didn't please anyone. Grizzlies fans will point to Butler's 18 free-throw attempts. Warriors fans will point to a phantom foul on Kevon Looney that gave Edey two free throws to cut the lead to a point.

Or to Brandin Podziemski's incredible block on Scotty Pippen Jr.'s breakaway that was ruled a shooting foul.

Green fouled out late in the game after logging 10 assists, three steals and a block. Ja Morant came back from an ankle injury to score 22 points, though he turned the ball over five times. 

The Warriors got unexpected bench points from their rookie, Quinten Post, who had 11 points and five rebounds while shooting 3-of-4 from deep. Gary Payton II hit two threes on his way to 12 points while blocking Edey, who is 14 inches taller than him, to end the third quarter.

Ultimately, what mattered is that the Warriors had Curry, and the Grizzlies didn't. The Warriors will go on to play the Houston Rockets, who finished second in the Western Conference, but also do not have Curry.