Warriors’ Steph Curry didn’t even see his crazy deep three against the Grizzlies go in

May 21, 2021Updated: May 21, 2021 7:21 p.m.

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is doused with water by Juan Toscano-Anderson of the Golden State Warriors after their win over the Denver Nuggets at Chase Center on April 12, 2021.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

After starting Friday’s Play-In Game finale down 22-9 against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors saw Stephen Curry score 12 of the Dubs’ next 20 points to pull them within one point at the end of the first quarter — a 30-29 deficit.

Curry finished the first quarter with 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three — and 1-of-1 from three with his back to the basket.

In the middle of Golden State outscoring the Grizzlies 20-8 in the first quarter, Curry drained a deep three 10 feet behind the three-point arc that he never saw go through the nylon — the Dubs’ MVP candidate turned around and started running up the floor in the opposite direction before the ball ever actually went through the basket.

Curry’s no-look three-pointers are well documented, there’s a 53-second YouTube clip that packages a bunch of them together, four of which are in NBA playoff games.

The Dubs’ sharpshooter also famously had one in this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

With a win on Friday, the Warriors would claim the NBA Playoff’s eighth seed; with a loss, they’d be eliminated from the postseason entirely. An eight seed would mean a first-round date with the Utah Jazz, the West’s No. 1 seed. The last time the Dubs entered the postseason as the eight seed, they upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks, earning them the moniker the “We Believe” Warriors, though there has been some debate regarding whether this would be a second coming of that team.

Grant Marek is SFGATE’s Editor in Chief. He’s spent the last 21 years in various editorial roles for the likes of Thrillist, Yahoo! Sports, the S.F. Examiner, The Desert Sun, The Santa Clarita Signal, and Sports Illustrated. He’s a graduate of UC Berkeley, and has lived in the Bay Area for 17 years. Email: grant.marek@sfgate.com