Warriors fans heave sigh of relief as Golden State books playoff berth in dramatic fashion

Plenty of heads turned over the officiating in Tuesday’s nail-biter between the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies — a 121-116 win for the Dubs. The Warriors built a commanding 20-point lead early, but the Grizzlies clawed their way back in the second half to make it a down-to-the-wire finish.

While the Warriors benefitted from several favorable calls throughout the night, crunch time saw a handful of whistles swing toward the Grizzlies. One key moment came when officials ruled against Golden State’s challenge on a Draymond Green foul committed on Zach Edey.

Despite calls going both ways, the most pivotal moment came with 5.4 seconds remaining. With the Warriors holding a slim 119-116 lead, Memphis was whistled for a five-second inbound violation, which helped seal the Golden State win.

Warriors fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to the officiating after the final buzzer.

“Refs tried to take it away from us,” one said.

“Refs were horrible, especially toward the end of the game,” another said.

“Ref masterclass,” another said.

Golden State held the edge at the line. Jimmy Butler drew 18 free throw attempts, sinking 12. The Warriors overall went 28-for-34 from the stripe, compared to the Grizzlies’ 20-for-23. Steph Curry was a perfect 13-for-13, including four straight to ice the game in the final moments.

“God awful performance by the refs tonight,” one said.

“Probably the worst stretch of officiating I’ve seen in a while,” another said.

“Even the Draymond 6th foul was goofy,” another commented.

Warriors set to face No. 2 Rockets in Round 1

With the win, the Warriors officially secured the No. 7 seed and will square off against the No. 2 Houston Rockets in the opening round of the playoffs.

The two teams met five times during the regular season. The Rockets took the first two matchups, each by six points.

The Warriors edged out the third in-season tournament clash by one point. They followed it up with a 105-98 win in the fourth, before the Rockets claimed the final meeting 106-96 — a game in which Steph Curry struggled, going just 1-for-10 from the field.

Game 1 of the series tips off Sunday in Houston at 9:30 p.m. ET, followed by Game 2 on Wednesday. Both will be televised on TNT.

About the author

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alt=”John Ezekiel Hirro” height=”72″ width=”72″>

John Ezekiel Hirro is an experienced NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda, with over five years in the field as a news correspondent, sports writer, and Editor-in-Chief. His sports writing career began in high school, where he garnered numerous accolades, including being named the national sports writing champion in 2016.

He earned his journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines in 2024 and served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Varsitarian, the university’s official student publication, for four years—the longest in history.

A passionate basketball enthusiast, he became a fan of the OKC Thunder during the Russ-KD-Harden era. Russell Westbrook, his all-time favorite athlete, impressed him by stepping up as MVP after Kevin Durant’s departure. His current favorite players include Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, who he believes are the future of the OKC franchise.

He excels in game analysis and rapid news story turnaround, drawing inspiration from the journalistic styles of Woj and Shams. He emphasizes thorough research to ensure accuracy in his articles. One of his most memorable moments is Russell Westbrook breaking Oscar Robertson’s record with his 42nd triple-double and securing a 106-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Outside of writing, he enjoys listening to music and creating Spotify playlists.

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