The Golden State Warriors were officially eliminated on Friday night after Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies beat them in an OT thriller in the Bay Area.
Despite Stephen Curry's valiant effort, it wasn't enough. But, the Warriors did have a chance to potentially win it in the dying moments of the fourth quarter with the game tied 99-99. Xavier Tillman missed a go-ahead jumper, which gave Golden State the ball with only just under 10 seconds left.
Curry found a cutting Draymond Green who had a relatively clear path to the hoop, but he missed a tough layup over Tillman. However, the Warriors did have a timeout left in which they chose to not use. Head coach Steve Kerr addressed why he didn't use it in a post-game interview with reporters, per NBC Sports:
“We chose not to,” Kerr said. “We had our shooters on the floor. We had [the Grizzlies] on their heels a little bit, and we knew we were gonna run our high drag with Steph and Draymond. And at that point, I didn't want to disrupt the momentum. We had the last shot, so we chose to go ahead and play.”
Steph was ultimately double-teamed, while Draymond couldn't drain the buzzer-beater. Kerr not calling a timeout at this moment was definitely not a huge deal though. The Warriors beat themselves at times, committing 20 turnovers in the contest while missing numerous open looks throughout.
Article Continues BelowNevertheless, it was still a respectable campaign, especially for Curry. He won the scoring title after averaging 32 points per game. With Klay Thompson and James Wiseman back next season, the Warriors should be able to avoid the play-in altogether. But, time will tell.