MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies held off a late charge by the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at FedExForum for a 99-89 victory and a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph scored 22 points and center Marc Gasol posted a double-double with 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Gasol did most of his work in the first half but hit a jumper that beat the shot clock with 2:06 left to hike the Grizzlies’ lead to 93-85. Gasol fouled out with 1:45 left.
Golden State, which trailed by 19 points early in the fourth quarter, got to within four at 88-84 with 3:15 to play on a Harrison Barnes layup (16 points, six rebounds). But Memphis closed on an 11-5 run to seal the victory.
Warriors guard and NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry finished with 23 points and six assists. But Curry was just 8 of 21 from the floor and 2 of 10 from 3-point range.
Warriors guard Klay Thompson scored 20 points, going 8 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
After making 20 turnovers in the Game 2 loss, Golden State committed 17 turnovers in Game 3 that led to 22 Memphis points. The Grizzlies had their largest lead with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter when Randolph knocked down a step-back jumper for an 83-64 lead.
Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley, who again played with a mask because of a face injury, had 11 points and five assists. Guard Courtney Lee finished with 11 points and four assists.
Down 16 points at the half, the Warriors opened the third quarter with a 15-5 burst to pull within six at 60-54 after a Curry 3-pointer with 7:45 left in the quarter. But from there, the Grizzlies shut out the Warriors until there were 38.6 seconds left in the quarter when reserve center Festus Ezeli scored on a hook shot.
The Grizzlies’ 19-4 run from 7:45 to the end of the quarter gave them a 79-64 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
Memphis shot 45.1 percent from the field (37 of 82). The Grizzlies dominated the paint, outscoring the Warriors 46-32.
Golden State shot 43.2 percent from the floor (32 of 74). Warriors forward Draymond Green finished with six points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.
Gasol had a double-double by halftime with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Grizzlies built a 55-39 lead.
NOTES: Golden State shot just 23.1 percent from 3-point range (6 of 26) in losing Game 2 to Memphis 97-90 as the Grizzlies evened the series. Warriors coach Steve Kerr again said before Game 3 on Saturday that Golden State played in a “rush” and never found an offensive rhythm. “That’s what we need to find tonight, a little rhythm and ball movement. We forced some shots,” Kerr said. … Statistically speaking, the winner of Saturday’s game was going to have a huge advantage. According to STATS LLC, when an NBA team takes a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series, that team goes on to win the series 81.7 percent of the time. … Grizzlies PG Mike Conley scored 22 points in Game 2 and played wearing a mask after having surgery for facial fractures suffered in the Portland series. Collectively, the Grizzlies are behind the mask, too. “We’re still the underdogs,” Conley said.