Stephen Curry says he is proud of his team's response to Draymond Green's rejection, after the Golden State Warriors took Game 1 on the road against Memphis Grizzlies with a 117-116 win.
Green was ejected in the first half of Sunday's series opener at the FedEx Forum for a flagrant foul on Brandon Clarke, and the Warriors rallied to take a double-digit lead in the third quarter before holding on with defensive stops on the Grizzlies' final two possessions.
Curry snatched the ball from Ja Morant to set up free-throws for the Warriors, but Klay Thompson shockingly missed both, before he responded by stopping Morant on the final possession of the game.
The former unanimous MVP praised his side's mental toughness in not imploding after the contentious ejection, noting it even galvanised them in front of the Memphis crowd.
"It was a tough call obviously, on the road and you're trying to start a series, and you get a guy like Draymond headed to the locker room," Curry said. "Nobody wants to see that. It's not good for the game, I didn't think it [Green's jersey pull] deserved that.
"We got a little emotional rise out of it, trying to stay locked in and deal with the circumstances and give ourselves a chance to win.
"Whatever emotion you rely on to turn the page from one series to the next, and especially when you're starting on the road, you've got to have an edge about you, for sure."
Along with the defensive stops, the Dubs' win on Sunday was also notable for the fact Curry and Thompson shot a combined 14-of-39, including eight-of-22 from beyond the arc.
Jordan Poole compensated and nearly notched his first triple-double with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting, nine assists and eight rebounds.
With Curry starting in Poole's place this time, after he was eased back off the bench in the series win over the Denver Nuggets, the 34-year-old cited his team's resilience as critical.
"Whatever way you explain it, whatever emotion you tie into it, you just bring it," Curry said. "When Draymond went out, there's your moment like 'What are we gonna do? How are we gonna figure this out?'
"To go into half-time, regroup, come out and play the way that we did, I'm really proud of everybody and their approach to the game. It was a good vibe out there."
NBA: Siakam leads Pacers past Knicks to force Game 7 in East semifinals
Pascal Siakam scored 25 points and Myles Turner added 17 as the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 116-103 victory over the New York Knicks to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday.
Andrew Nembhard, Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell each added 15 points, with Nembhard grabbing six rebounds and handing out six assists. Haliburton had nine assists as the Pacers remained perfect in six home games in this postseason.
The winner of Game 7 in New York on Sunday will advance to face the top-seeded Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
Jalen Bruson scored 31 points on 11-of-26 shooting after missing his final 11 shots in the first half. Deuce McBride added 20 points with four 3-pointers as the Knicks fell to 0-3 on the road in this series.
Already decimated by injuries, the Knicks lost starting forward Josh Hart in the fourth quarter due to abdominal soreness.
Hart was seen holding his midsection multiple times during the game and asked to be taken out after he had five points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes.
New York is already without All-Star Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Indiana used a 14-6 run in the third quarter to take control, turning a 61-56 lead into a 75-62 advantage. The Pacers maintained at least a 10-point edge the rest of the way.
Conley return completes Timberwolves as they force Nuggets decider
Mike Conley Jr. said his return had completed the Minnesota Timberwolves after they crushed the Denver Nuggets to force a Game 7 in the teams' Western Conference semifinal series.
The Nuggets had the chance to eliminate the Timberwolves at Target Center on Thursday after going 3-2 up in the series, but the hosts roared back to tie things up with a 115-70 rout.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting, with the Timberwolves' win the second-largest NBA Playoff victory by a team facing elimination in history.
Edwards put the team's improvement down to the return of guard Conley, who missed Game 5 after suffering from soreness in his right Achilles tendon.
Asked what had changed for Minnesota, Edwards said: "We got Mike Conley back. That was it."
Conley said: "Obviously I wanted to play the last game. I just couldn't move at all. Tonight it was a no-brainer.
"I was going to try to find a way. We're just better when we're a complete team."
MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, who were stunned by a 20-0 first-quarter run from the third-seeded Timberwolves.
Asked how Denver would look to forget about the loss, Jokic said: "I think we shouldn't.
"I think we need to let it sink in. It's a great loss. They destroyed us, and we should learn from it."
Timberwolves demolish Nuggets to force Game 7
The Minnesota Timberwolves needed a win to keep their season alive.
They proceeded to obliterate the Denver Nuggets.
The Timberwolves rode a 20-0 run in the first quarter en route to a 115-70 thrashing of the Nuggets on Thursday to force a Game 7 in their Western Conference semi-final series.
Anthony Edwards led the way with 27 points and Jaden McDaniels added 21 on 8-of-10 shooting as Minnesota recorded the second-largest play-off win in NBA history when facing elimination.
The Wolves led by as much as 50 to send the series back to Denver on Sunday with a berth in the West finals on the line.
After winning the first two games of the series in Denver, Minnesota suddenly found itself on the brink of elimination after losing Games 3 and 4 on its home court and Tuesday's 112-97 defeat back in Denver.
The Timberwolves then trailed 9-2 early in Game 6 before turning the tables on the Nuggets.
They scored the next 20 points and went on a 27-2 run on their way to taking a 31-14 lead after the first 12 minutes.
Edwards sparked the first-quarter surge, racking up 14 points in the opening period after scoring 18 total points in Game 5.
The Wolves clamped down defensively and dominated the boards to turn Game 6 into a laugher.
Minnesota limited Denver to just 7-of-36 shooting from 3-point range (19.4 per cent) and held a 62-43 advantage on the glass, with big men Rudy Gobert (14), Karl-Anthony Towns (13) and Naz Reid (11) combining for 38 boards.
NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 22 points and nine rebounds for the defending champions, but Jamal Murray struggled mightily from the floor, making just 4-of-18 shots and finishing with 10 points.
Mike Conley returned after missing Game 5 because of soreness in his right Achilles tendon, and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
The Timberwolves opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to open up a 30-point lead, prompting the Nuggets to empty their bench just over two minutes into the final period.
Less than 90 seconds later, that lead grew to 36 points and Minnesota took out its starters.
The Wolves bench picked up right where the starters left off to finish off a 24-0 run as the lead ballooned to 50.
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