Ex-Nigeria coach Mike Brown leads Golden State Warriors to a narrow win in Game 4 against Memphis Grizzlies

Golden State Warriors went a step closer to winning the Western Conference semi-finals with a 101-98 win at home to the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 4.

The result means the Warriors are now one win away from making it to the Western Conference finals and they did it without their head coach, Steve Kerr.

Kerr was ruled out of the game some hours before tip-off as he went into health and safety protocols leaving associate head coach Mike Brown as the man leading from the bench.

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Brown had spent the last year coaching Nigeria’s national basketball team, the D’Tigers from February 2020 when he was officially announced till after the Olympics last summer when he unceremoniously departed.

Brown was recently announced as the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings, effective at the end of the current season and his ongoing obligation to the Golden State Warriors.

It wasn’t the first time Brown would have to step in for Steve Kerr and he had a reputation of never losing any of his previous 11 post-season games as Warriors head coach. 

This win extended that run to 12 games but it didn’t come easy for Brown as the Warriors trailed for the majority of the game against a Memphis team that was missing its star player, Ja Morant.

The Warriors were having an uncharacteristically bad shooting night, missing all of their first 15 three-point attempts and making only two shots from deep in the entire first half.

The Grizzlies led for over 47 of the total 48 minutes played and even had a 10-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

Steph Curry scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, sinking multiple threes and making clutch free throws to give Golden State their first lead of the night with 44.7 seconds to play.

The Warriors went on a 10-2 run in the closing seconds to seal the win and are now just a win away from clinching the series and advancing to the Conference finals.