To beat Memphis, Steve Kerr makes radical adjustment

The Golden State Warriors entered Monday night's Game 4 with their back against a proverbial wall, trailing 2-1 against the suddenly confident Memphis Grizzlies.

For the Warriors, shots weren't falling that normally fall, but a tactical adjustment felt necessary to give the Western Conference's top seed the boost they needed to tie the series in a virtual must-win contest on the road.

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr did something few expected, and it totally worked. Here's more from Deadspin:

"He had Andrew Bogut guard Tony Allen. Cross-matching on defense isn’t unusual, but centers usually don’t guard small forwards on anything other than a switch or broken play. While Bogut has quick feet and impeccable timing, most small forwards can kill him on offense by running around the perimeter, but not Tony Allen. Tony Allen is a 27 percent career three-point shooter and has never even averaged two assists per game. A victory for Allen on offense is keeping his defender honest. Anything else is a bonus."

The move made Kerr look like a genius. In the 16 minutes Allen was on the floor, Memphis' offense only mustered 70.7 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. That's an extremely low number, and made it difficult for Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger to keep his best defender in the flow of the game.

Allen had four points and zero assists in the 17-point loss. Will Kerr keep a big man on Allen in Game 5? Will Joerger make a noticeable adjustment? Tune in and find out. This series just got even more interesting than it already was.

(h/t: Deadspin)

Photo Credit: Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images