Butler, Curry lead Warriors past Grizzlies 121-116 to secure seventh seed in West playoffs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry threw their arms around each other and embraced.

Playoff Jimmy in all his brilliance on the big stage took all the pressure off Curry, and now they're taking the Golden State Warriors to the playoffs.

“I know I want to win a championship so he needs, his what, this would be No. 5?” Butler said.

Butler had 38 points, seven rebounds and six assists creating opportunities on both ends at every chance, Curry scored 37, and the Warriors earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 on Tuesday night in the Play-In Tournament.

Curry knocked down a baseline 3-pointer with 1:50 to go and one from the left wing with a minute on the clock then converted four free throws in the closing five seconds.

Golden State is now headed for a best-of-seven first-round series with the Rockets beginning with Game 1 on Sunday at Houston.

“It took 83 games but we’re right where we want to be, which is back in the playoffs and we've got a chance,” coach Steve Kerr said.

After a pair of free throws by Curry with 5.4 seconds left, the Grizzlies had one last chance — but Santi Aldama couldn’t inbound the ball before a five-second violation.

Desmond Bane scored 30 points and Ja Morant 22 for Memphis, which will head home to play Friday against the winner of the Mavericks-Kings matchup on Wednesday night in Sacramento to determine the eighth playoff spot.

With the Grizzlies on a roll midway through the third, Butler grabbed momentum back with a steal and dunk. He shot 12 for 20 in a second straight 30-point performance and his highest scoring game since joining the Warriors at the trade deadline. He made 12 of 18 free throws — having been 63 of 68 from the line over the previous eight games in April.

Morant went down hard rolling his right ankle when he stepped on Buddy Hield’s foot and was fouled by Quinten Post with 4:25 remaining in the third but got up and finished the three-point play to pull the Grizzlies within 82-81.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 18 points, while Zach Edey contributed 14 points, 17 rebounds and hit two free throws with 14.3 seconds left.

Curry had eight rebounds, four assists and shot 9 for 22 while regularly swarmed by Scotty Pippen Jr. before he fouled out late.

Curry had lit up the Grizzlies for 52 points on their home floor in a 134-125 win on April 1, and the Grizzlies made him a top priority this time — so Butler took charge.

“He's different,” Draymond Green said.

He led four straight scoring possessions to put the Warriors up 31-18 late in the first quarter — assisting on Gary Payton II’s cutting dunk, dishing to Post for a 3 and making a 3-point shot and three-point play himself. Butler showed no signs of being affected by a tender left quadriceps muscle after he took a knee from Kawhi Leonard on Sunday.

The Warriors hoped to avoid this extra game, but lost in overtime to the Clippers in the regular-season finale on Sunday for their third home defeat over the final week.

Curry, Green and the Warriors had been 0-3 in play-in games during appearances in 2021 and last year. The Grizzlies eliminated them at Chase Center with a 117-112 overtime victory in ’21.

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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, bottom, reacts after hitting the floor during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler, back, and Draymond Green (23) steal the ball from Memphis Grizzlies' Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) in the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

State Warriors' Moses Moody, left, and Jimmy Butler III (10) defend against Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant (12) during the first half of during an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, middle left, is defended by Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) shoots against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green during the second half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors' Gary Payton II, right, forces a jump ball against Memphis Grizzlies' Jaren Jackson Jr., center, during the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry, back, pokes the ball away from Memphis Grizzlies' Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) in the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) shoots a 3-point shot as Memphis Grizzlies' Scotty Pippen Jr. (1) fouls him in the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III (10) celebrates a made basket and foul against the Memphis Grizzlies during the the first half of an NBA play-in tournament basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III, left, celebrates with guard Stephen Curry after an NBA play-in tournament basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

HADERA, Israel (AP) — Israeli police on Tuesday were scouring the waters off the country's Mediterranean coast for a swimmer who they fear may have been attacked by a shark, in an area that for decades has seen close encounters between marine predators and beachgoers who sometimes seek them out.

A shiver of endangered dusky and sandbar sharks has been swimming close to the area for years, attracting onlookers who approach the sharks and drawing pleas from conservation groups for authorities to separate people from the wild animals.

Nature groups say those warnings went unheeded and on Monday, police were forced to launch a search after receiving reports that a swimmer was attacked by a shark on a beach near the Israeli city of Hadera.

On Tuesday, the beach near Hadera was closed off as search teams scoured the sea by boat and underwater equipment for the swimmer. The man’s identity was not immediately known, but Israeli media said he had gone to swim with the sharks.

Israelis flocked in large numbers to the beach during a weeklong holiday, sharing the waters with a dozen or more sharks. Some tugged on the sharks’ fins, while others threw them fish to eat. Dusky sharks can stretch 4 meters (13 feet) long and weigh about 350 kilograms (750 pounds). Sandbar sharks are smaller, growing to about 2.5 meters (8 feet) and 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

Yigael Ben-Ari, head of the Israel’s Parks and Nature Authority’s marine ranger force, said it was unknown how the man believed to have been attacked behaved around the sharks, but he said the public had a responsibility to recognize that it shouldn’t enter the waters and definitely should not touch or play with the sharks.

One video shared by Israeli media showed a shark swimming right up to bathers in thigh-deep water.

“What a huge shark!” the man filming exclaims, as the shark approaches him. “Whoa! He’s coming toward us!”

“Don’t move!” he implores a boy standing nearby, who replies “I’m leaving.”

The man then asks, “what, are you afraid of the sharks?”

The behavior, some of which was witnessed by an Associated Press photographer two days before the attack, flew in the face of the Parks and Nature Authority’s advice not to approach the sharks.

“Like every wild animal, the sharks’ behavior may be unpredictable,” the authority said in a statement.

This would be just the third recorded shark attack in Israel, according to Ben-Ari. One person was killed in an attack in the 1940s.

The area, where warm water released by a nearby power plant flows into the sea, has for years attracted dozens of sharks between the months of October and May. Ben-Ari said swimming is prohibited in the area, but swimmers enter the water anyway.

“It would have been appropriate to take steps to preserve and regulate public safety, but over the years chaos has developed in the area,” the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, an environmental group, said in a statement.

It said fishermen, boats, divers, surfers and snorkelers intersected dangerously with a wild animal that “is not accustomed to being around crowds of people.”

SPNI said further steps were needed to prevent similar incidents, like designating a safe zone from where people could view the sharks without swimming close to them.

Israeli authorities on Monday closed the beach and others nearby.

Goldenberg reported from Jerusalem.

Shark swim in Mediterranean Sea as Israeli police are looking the area for a swimmer who they fear was attacked by a shark on Monday, near the Israeli city of Hadera, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A man records video of a shark swimming in Mediterranean Sea in Hadera, Israel, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A shark swims past people in Mediterranean Sea in Hadera, Israel, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli police are looking for a swimmer who they fear was attacked on Monday by a shark, near the Israeli city of Hadera, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A shark swims in Mediterranean Sea as Israeli police are looking the area for a swimmer who they fear was attacked by a shark on Monday, near the Israeli city of Hadera, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A shark swims in Mediterranean Sea as Israeli police are looking area for a swimmer who they fear was attacked by a shark on Monday, near the Israeli city of Hadera, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A woman reaches to a shark swimming in Mediterranean Sea in Hadera, Israel, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)