Golden State Warriors steal emotional Game 4 win from Memphis Grizzlies without Steve Kerr

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors associate head coach Mike Brown was going through his normal pregame preparation when he received a call from head coach Steve Kerr.

Kerr told Brown he wasn't feeling well and that he might need Brown to coach Game 4 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Thirty minutes later, Kerr registered a positive COVID-19 test and officially gave Brown the reins for the pivotal game.

It was the latest bump in what was already an emotional day for the Warriors. Earlier, the Sacramento Kings announced Brown as the team's next head coach. Just a few hours before that, news broke that Draymond Green's college teammate and best friend, Adreian Payne, had been shot and killed in Florida. Then Kerr's positive COVID-19 test.

«It was an up and down, emotional day,» Brown said.

«It was a tough night for us, but at this point in the year, you win ballgames. Doesn't matter how you get there, but you win ballgames.»

The Warriors did just that, beating the Grizzlies 101-98 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

But it wasn't pretty. Warriors assistant coach Chris DeMarco compared it to a football game — that the Warriors kept handing the ball off to their fullback to get them down to the red zone before kicking a field goal to win it.

The Warriors got off to a slow and sloppy start, yet again. They coughed the ball up six times in the first quarter. The Grizzlies hopped out to an early 15-8 lead. Golden State missed their first 15 3-point attempts before Otto Porter Jr. finally hit one with 3:23 left in the first half. But the Warriors managed to keep themselves within striking distance.

«We have been pretty frantic to start the ballgames,» Brown said. «The one thing I worry about