Mike Conley outplayed NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry and defensive ace Tony Allen harassed All-Star Klay Thompson into an off-shooting night as the Memphis Grizzlies stunned the top-seeded Golden State Warriors 97-90 on Tuesday.
The Memphis defense put on a brilliant display in Game Two of the Western Conference semi-finals series, limiting the high-flying Golden State to 41.9 percent shooting to tie up the best-of-seven set at 1-1.
The scene now shifts to Memphis for Games Three and Four with the Grizzlies suddenly in possession of home-court advantage.
On a night when Curry received the trophy for his regular-season exploits, Conley returned from a 10-day absence due to a facial fracture and the point guard made 8-of-12 shots en route to a team-high 22 points.
Wearing a protective mask, Conley also limited Curry to 2-for-11 shooting from beyond the three-point arc and 7-for-19 overall on a 19-point night. Curry added six assists and five rebounds.
The Warriors, who shot 46.4 percent on three-pointers in a series-opening 101-86 win on Sunday, drained just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) long-distance efforts on Tuesday.
Allen had a big hand in that, the swingman hounding Thompson into 1-for-6 shooting from downtown. The Golden State guard finished with 13 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the floor.
The Grizzlies led by 11 at the half and 73-63 entering the fourth quarter, taking advantage of Curry and Thompson’s struggles to carry the advantage all the way to the final buzzer.
(Editing by Cameron French)
