Poole denies targeting Morant’s knee as tempers flare in Warriors-Grizzlies series

Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Klay Thompson had 21 and nine rebounds and Golden State shut down Ja Morant’s supporting cast to embarrass Memphis 142-112 and take 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

Morant’s three just before the halftime buzzer got the Grizzlies to 64-57 at the break and gave him 17 of his 34 points after a 47-point performance in Game 2. But Morant couldn’t do it alone for Memphis, and limping off court with 6:19 to play before heading to the locker room.

Ja Morant reacted to Jordan Poole grabbing his knee.(via @JaMorant) pic.twitter.com/9XhvkPfYxG

Still bothered by Dillon Brooks’ hard foul in Game 2 that fractured Gary Payton II’s elbow, Draymond Green and Golden State kept cool from the opening tip methodically running away with it. After Payton’s injury, Warriors coach Steve Kerr claimed the Grizzlies had broken the NBA “code” by hurting him. On Saturday it was the Grizzlies who directed the accusation at the Warriors.

After the game, Morant tweeted – then deleted – a video of Warriors guard Jordan Poole grabbing his knee along with the caption “broke the code”. Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr was asked about Poole’s play after the game.

“You know our mentality ... you know, make a play on the ball. It’s unfortunate. You never want to see that type of stuff. Obviously, it’s not done by – no one is out here dirty. No one is out here like that. But it’s just unfortunate … You know the code. Talk about the code all series at this point.”

Poole denied he had intentionally hurt Morant. “It was a basketball play when we doubled him,” Poole said. “And I hit the ball, and I was going for the ball. I mean, obviously, you don’t want to see anybody get hurt. I’m not even that type of player. I