3:55 p.m. ET
Kendra AndrewsESPN
SAN FRANCISCO — With just two points ahead of Golden State in Memphis and 1:14 left Wednesday night, Stephen Curry clapped Jordan Poole’s hands after Curry said he thought it was an ill-advised 3-point attempt by his Warriors teammate.
As he ran back to the defense, a frustrated Curry pulled out his mouthpiece and whipped it through the air. It bounced off the pitch and landed near the pitchside seats to be automatically ejected.
“It was a pivotal time in the game and the way our season was going, questions about a heightened sense of urgency…when you want something really bad…I responded in a way that put me out of the game and the team in a difficult position brought,” Curry said after the Warriors clinched a wild 122-120 win.
This was Curry’s third career throw, including playoffs. All three ejections involved his mouthpiece. In Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, Curry was thrown in an almost identical incident when his mouthpiece flew into a fan seated courtside. In 2017, he was kicked out after throwing his mouthguard at a referee during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Because his mouthpiece didn’t hit anyone on Wednesday, Curry said he thinks it shouldn’t have been an immediate ejection. But crew boss Sean Wright confirmed the reasoning to a pool reporter: “Stephen Curry takes his mouthpiece and throws forcefully into the stands as the rule dictates, that’s an automatic ejection.”
Editors Favorites
2 relatives
Curry finished the night with a game-high 43 points on 10-of-19 shots from the field, including 4-of-10-of-3s. He also hit 10 of his 11 free throws.
With 4:25 left in the game, Curry cut the Warriors’ lead to four points with a 26-foot, 3-point jump over Ja Morant. About two minutes later, playing at 2:18, he leveled the game with a long 2-pointer, also over Morant.
The Warriors got a huge stop at the other end, followed by three Curry free throws. A minute later, Curry was ejected.
Even without their star, the Warriors dug deep enough to pull out the win.
“This is a great win for us for many reasons,” said Draymond Green.
He continued, “I think there’s always more focus in this game. I think [the Grizzlies] Bring out another competitive side in us and we’ll do the same for you. Both teams stand up for this game, it’s always fun to play.”
It wasn’t a nice game, at least in the first half. The Warriors committed 11 fouls and 14 turnovers in the first half — the most turnovers they’ve committed in one half at home this season. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies’ offense was cold, shooting just 41.7% from the floor, including 25% from 3 on 4 of 16 shots.
However, towards the end of the second quarter, the tide began to turn for both teams. There was also some chippiness. As the teams left the court at halftime, Curry, Klay Thompson and Poole chirped to the Memphis players as they headed towards the tunnel. Then, in the third quarter, Green and Brandon Clarke picked up technical fouls.
This was the latest chapter in the Warriors’ burgeoning rivalry with the Grizzlies. Neither team thinks they’ve reached full rivalry potential yet, but given last season’s playoff streak, they have all the makings of it.
A recurring theme
All three of Stephen Curry’s career ejections were mouthguard-related:
• In Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals, he threw his mouthguard and hit a fan sitting on the sidelines.
• On October 21, 2017, he threw a mouthguard at a referee during a game against the Grizzlies.
• On Wednesday, also against the Grizzlies, his mouthguard shot bounced off the court and landed near the courtside courts.
The Grizzlies parted ways in Wednesday’s game by 6.1 seconds on a dunk by Clarke. On the next play, the Warriors looked to get the ball to Thompson, who hit a 28-foot-3 pointer eight seconds earlier. But with that possession, he missed the shot with 6 seconds left. The ball was deflected by the Grizzlies, giving the Warriors possession.
Then Green thought of a playcall for Golden State.
“I was just trying to think fast, and I thought we’d already done all our other out-of-bounds underground plays,” Green said. “I was trying to think of something, the #1 they hadn’t seen, but #2 that could give us some space.”
Donte DiVincenzo kept the ball looking for a place to come into play. First, Thompson rang to the left behind a green screen. Next, Anthony Lamb turned left. Meanwhile, Poole cut the hoop.
DiVincenzo and Poole looked at each other and DiVincenzo gave him the ball. Poole ended the race with a reverse layup to put the Warriors in second with 2.3 seconds left. It was the first green field goal in the last 10 seconds of a game of Poole’s career.
“[It was] Fire,” said Poole. ‘That’s the only way to put it. It was pretty stupid. …If anything, to stay positive, we know what to do in these crunch games. We’re gaining a lot of experience from close games in the regular season and that will definitely help us.”
The Warriors have had several games decided in clutch time (when the score is within five points in the last five minutes) this season, but they have not had success in them. Golden State is 12-13 in such games, which ranks 18th in the NBA. This week, the Warriors have given up double-digit leads three times in the second half of games, losing two of them.
Top stories of the week from 
Get exclusive access to 3,000+ premium articles per year from top authors.
• Kiper: Debut 2023 NFL Mock Draft »
• Early 2024 MLB Hall of Fame Preview »
• All American Scouting Men Recruits »
More ESPN+ Content »
The main reason, say the warriors, was execution, or lack thereof. But against the Grizzlies – especially after Curry ejected – the Warriors pulled off the execution. And most importantly, run your out of bounds game.
“We desperately needed this win,” said Curry. “Not just because it was Memphis and all the narrative there, but it’s just the way we play. … To see the guys fight back the way they did and finish the job, there was a lot of celebration in the tunnel.”