Warriors cruise to 2nd blowout in a row, take 3-2 series lead over Grizzlies

Through little fault of their own, the Memphis Grizzlies let the Golden State Warriors rediscover their footing in Game 4, and their season now feels over because of it.

Keeping the Warriors at bay always seemed impossible, and the Grizzlies doing so for even two games was remarkable. When Golden State bounced back on Monday, it seemed a relative certainty that it was the beginning of renewed momentum, and Wednesday's Game 5 bore that out.

The Warriors cruised to a 98-78 victory in front of a raucous Oracle Arena crowd, a place they simply weren't going to lose in twice in a row.

It was a thorough, bell-to-bell beating and will see the Warriors head back to The Grindhouse with the hopes of wrapping the series up in six. In so much as series momentum exists, it belongs to Golden State, and Memphis has but a single day off to figure out how to score on the league's top defense.

Turning Point

The Warriors entered the half with a 49-41 lead, looking more or less comfortable at home but not quite enough so that they'd be cruising to a victory in the second half. Memphis doesn't exactly play that way, not even when The Grindfather is on the shelf.

Golden State came out a bit cold, but the Grizzlies couldn't clean up their own glass - the Warriors missed four shots on a single possession early in the third quarter - and it ate away at the efficacy of their defense. Despite a 4-of-12 start to the second half, the Warriors were able to hold serve through their cold spell and never let the lead get smaller than six.

Combine the 14 offensive rebounds with an enormous 31-6 edge in fast break points for the game and it's little surprise Memphis couldn't hang despite a characteristically gritty effort.

It wasn't so much the final stat line that Steph Curry finished with that was impressive, because the game's blowout nature kept him from shooting in the fourth quarter and limited him to 33 minutes on the night.

But even with a quiet points total, the damage Curry did was substantial. He canned four triples in the first quarter and six on the night, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting and 6-of-13 from outside, and he added seven rebounds, five assists and six steals.

That steal total ties an NBA playoffs high, and Curry is now the only player in playoff history to knock down six threes and total six steals in the same game, something that's only been done four times in the regular season.

He is, as always, Steph Curry with the shot.

It wasn't all sunshine and giggles for the Warriors, even if Curry did get to clowning them with historic pull-up triples quite early.

Obviously unimpressed with Curry becoming the fastest player ever to 100 career playoff threes, Marc Gasol showed off his own special talents:

Gasol does have some moves, though:

And if you've ever scoffed at head coach Steve Kerr lauding the benefits of yoga, Harrison Barnes explains why:

Game 1: Warriors 101, Grizzlies 86 (Warriors lead 1-0)
Game 2: Grizzlies 97, Warriors 90 (Series tied 1-1)
Game 3: Grizzlies 99, Warriors 89 (Grizzlies lead 2-1)
Game 4: Warriors 101, Grizzlies 84 (Series tied 2-2)
Game 5: Warriors 98, Grizzlies 78 (Warriors lead 3-2)
Game 6: Friday, May 15, 9:30 p.m. ET
Game 7*: Sunday, May 17, 3:30 p.m. ET