Steph Curry’s timeout gaffe nearly gives away Warriors’ Game 4 win

SAN FRANCISCO – As Steph Curry nonchalantly called a last-minute timeout, he initially thought it was “the smartest play in the world” for the Warriors’ sake.

“But it turned out not to be. I looked at the bench and everyone was shaking their head,” Curry said Sunday with an uneasy chuckle.

Problem was, the Warriors had no timeouts remaining, and Curry’s call threatened to serve as an infamous gaffe in his and the Warriors’ playoff legacy.

Curry and the Warriors escaped with a 126-125 win to even their opening-round series against the Sacramento Kings, who host Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Curry took Chase Center’s crowd of 18,064 for a wild ride over the final minute. The timeout blunder was sandwiched between him missing two open shots, all of which led to his grand finale on defense, where he rushed over to challenge Harrison Barnes’ last-second miss from 3-point range.

Curry finished with a team-high 32 points in nearly 43 minutes of work, including every minute of the fourth quarter, with one notable pause in the action.

He was bringing the ball upcourt when Barnes and Davion Mitchell blocked his path up the right sideline. Rather than force the issue, Curry signaled for a timeout, looking less stressed than on Chris Webber’s timeout, also with none available, that sealed Michigan’s loss in the 1993 NCAA Championship Game.

Coach Steve Kerr immediately grabbed his head in disbelief – at his own misdeed more so than Curry’s.

“It was 100 percent my fault,” Kerr said. “I knew we didn’t have any timeouts left. We took the challenge (of a Kevon Looney offensive foul), and when the challenge was unsuccessful, that’s on me. I have to remind the guys we don’t have timeouts.”

Curry, indeed, said he didn’t realize their final timeout evaporated a few minutes prior, when officials stuck with their call — that Kevon Looney’s pick constituted a foul, leaving Malik Monk sprawled on the hardwood while Klay Thompson attempted a 3-pointer.

That was at the 2:14 mark. Once Monk missed a layup and Looney made his 14th rebound of the game, Curry called timeout with 42.4 seconds to go.

“When I got the ball, I turned around, saw the trap, realized there was no real outlet,” Curry said, “so instead of turning it over … ”

Curry then paused, deftly avoiding to again utter the word “timeout.”

“It’s kind of the heady play,” Curry continued. “We came away with the win, but it was a good learning lesson at how important all the details are.”

“I don’t think anybody on the court knew about the timeout situation,” Looney said. “That was a group thing. We weren’t locked in on that part. I was actually surprised like everyone else.”

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) reacts next to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr after Curry called a timeout they didn’t have against the Sacramento Kings in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) 

Draymond Green claimed he was at fault, too, by heading up the court and abandoning Curry.

“I know everyone blames Steph and he calls the timeout. But I’m supposed to trail the play and not leave him on an island,” Green said. “Then I gave up a three to (De’Aaron) Fox.”

Indeed, a 4-point swing ensued from what Kerr dubbed as “the timeout mess.”

Monk made a free throw off the technical foul, accessed for calling timeout with none available. After Barnes missed a 3-pointer, Fox didn’t miss his, nailing it over Green to cap his 38-point output and pull the Kings within 126-125 with 28.7 seconds to go.

Curry responded by dribbling past Fox and finding an open jumper at the free throw line. The shot didn’t fall, but neither would the Warriors’ lead.

As the final seconds ticked away, Curry and Green doubled Fox at the top of the arc, then Curry rotated with the ball as it went to Barnes, who missed from 27 feet in the final second.

And then: yellow confetti fell from the Chase Center rafters and among those exhaling was Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob, who sat courtside with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

The Warriors assured themselves of a Game 6 return Friday to their home court, preferably with a chance to close out the No. 3-seed Kings, so long as Curry & Co. win Game 5 on Wednesday.

“We know we have to win one in that building to get out of this series. It may as well be Game 5,” Curry said.

Curry opened his postgame press conference by explaining his timeout snafu. The topic did not come up over the remaining 15 minutes. Instead, there was more to dissect about this, his 95th win in the 138 playoff games he’s played.

“He’s a simple person, but he’s a competitor,” Thompson said. “To still be out here playing in playoff games with him, it’s a great feeling. These times I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Hopefully we can carve out a legacy of one of the better backcourts to play this game.”