Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected after unloading at an umpire while the Spurs’ latest result has the Lakers on the brink of being out of the play-in spots.
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KERR KICKED OUT AS WARRIORS GO DOWN
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected at halftime during his side’s 123-95 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum.
After a dismal half in which the Warriors posted only 37 to the Grizzlies’ 63, Kerr’s frustrations boiled over.
Warriors guard Jordan Poole raced towards the bucket to get his shot in before the halftime buzzer sounded, but Grizzlies guard De’Anthony Melton blocked his shot as time expired.
Kerr was adamant that Melton’s block was a goaltend, but the referees did not see it the same way and called for an end to the first half proceedings.
The Warriors boss then exploded and launched into a tirade at one official, prompting the man in the middle to hand out two technical fouls to Kerr and bring the curtain down early on his night.
Resting Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Otto Porter Jr. as well as missing the injured Steph Curry, it was going to be an uphill battle for the Warriors to take something out of the game.
It proved to be the case, as the Warriors made 12 from 44 shots from the field in the first half and went 4 from 17 from beyond the arc.
The Grizzlies were also without two of their man men in Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., but it did little to halt the team from going to work.
The Warriors did improve in the second half, scoring 58 points but it wasn’t enough to beat the Grizzlies who scored 60.
Memphis had 20-point contributions from forward Dillon Brooks, guard Desmond Bane and Melton en route to the team’s fifth-straight win.
SPURS STAR’S CAREER NIGHT THROWS LAKERS PLAYOFF PLANS INTO DISARRAY
San Antonio Spurs star Dejounte Murray dropped a career-high 33 points as his side held on for a 123-120 win over the Houston Rockets.
The win for the Spurs tightens the screws even further on the Lakers, who are one place ahead of San Antonio and hold the last play-in spot in the Western Conference.
To round out the season, the Lakers face the Mavericks, the Jazz, the Pelicans, the Nuggets, the Suns, the Warriors, the Thunder and then the Nuggets one more time.
Of those teams, only the Thunder are below them in the standings across both conferences, representing just how bleak the outlook truly is for the Lakers.
And in the upcoming game against Dallas, the Lakers will have to do it without LeBron and Anthony Davis. Yikes.
For the Spurs, the win was yet another sign of business as usual as they won their fourth straight.
Keldon Johnson had 21 points and Jakob Poetl had 17, while rookie Jalen Green starred for the Rockets with 30 alongside Kevin Porter Jr. who dropped 26.
The Spurs were dominant throughout the contest and held a 96-84 lead going into the final quarter.
But Gregg Popovich was helpless as the Rockets mounted an extraordinary comeback in the last stanza.
Ultimately Houston’s 36 points wasn’t enough, as the Spurs racked up 27 points which proved to be enough for a narrow three-point win.
WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAY-IN RACE
***
9. New Orleans Pelicans 32-43
10. Los Angeles Lakers 31-43
11. San Antonio Spurs 31-44
ALL SCORES
HORNETS 109 NUGGETS 113
PACERS 123 HAWKS 132
CAVALIERS 107 MAGIC 101
KNICKS 109 BULLS 104
RAPTORS 115 CELTICS 112
HEAT 123 KINGS 100
GRIZZLIES 123 WARRIORS 95
ROCKETS 120 SPURS 123
TRAIL BLAZERS V THUNDER