Warriors subdue stubborn Grizzlies, earn seventh consecutive victory

OAKLAND - Klay Thompson scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half and the Golden State Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 106-94 on Sunday for their seventh consecutive win.

Stephen Curry added 21 points and 11 assists, Andre Iguodala scored 20 and Draymond Green had nine points and seven rebounds as the Warriors (59-14) extended their lead to 2½ games on the San Antonio Spurs in the race for the top spot in the West.

The win did more than keep Golden State in front of San Antonio. It also kicked off a stretch of five games in eight days when the Warriors will face playoff contenders Houston (twice), San Antonio and Washington.

Memphis had beaten the Warriors twice previously this season and was attempting to become the first team to notch three regular-season wins against Golden State since the Spurs’ four-game sweep in 2013-14.

The Grizzlies nearly pulled it off and stayed close until the fourth quarter, when their offense went cold and the Warriors took off.

Thompson made back-to-back 3-pointers and Curry later added two of his own from beyond the arc to put Golden State up 99-88.

Memphis, which missed 15 of its first 17 shots in the fourth quarter, couldn’t recover.

Mike Conley scored 29 points, Zach Randolph added 15 and JaMychal Green had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies, who were without center Marc Gasol (left foot strain).

Even with their 7-foot-1-inch center absent, the Grizzlies gave the Warriors problems early.

Randolph had 12 points in the first half and Conley made all seven of his free-throw attempts in the second quarter to pace Memphis inside, while Green repeatedly scored from the perimeter.

Iguodala kept Golden State in it, shooting 5 of 6 with two 3-pointers to help the Warriors to a 56-54 halftime lead.

HOME FOR FINALS

There’s no telling whether they’ll get there, but should the Warriors make the NBA Finals for a third consecutive season, the series (again) will begin in Oracle Arena.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, Golden State clinched a better record than every Eastern Conference team. It was Cleveland’s 25th loss. The Warriors only have 14 losses with nine games to play, meaning they can’t finish with more than 24.

So at this point, the Warriors have ensured themselves homecourt for three of the four postseason rounds. But the San Antonio Spurs still linger, 21/2 games back of the Warriors and holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. They play for the final time this season in San Antonio on Wedneday night.

Should the Spurs tie or pass the Warriors at the 82-game mark, they’ll hop Golden State for the top seed, push the Warriors to a less appealing 2-7 first round matchup and snatch homecourt in a potential West final series. But if not, the Warriors - for the third straight season - will have the NBA’s best regular season and homecourt throughout the playoffs.

NOTES

Randolph’s start was only his fourth of the season and first since Feb. 4.

Gasol was at Oracle Arena, but watched the game from the Memphis locker room.

Kerr has 199 career wins as Golden State’s coach.

The 59 wins tie the 1975-76 team for third-most in Warriors franchise history.

The Mercury News contributed to this report.