Stephen Curry got hot with his shot and Andrew Bogut had a surprise defensive assignment as the Golden State Warriors found the form that made them the NBA's most feared team.
The Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies 101-84 on Monday to even the best-of-seven western conference semi-final series 2-2.
After two games in front of a ferocious Grizzlies crowd, the series moves back to the Warriors' home court in Oakland, California on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Warriors, after two straight losses, were under pressure not to lose a third.
"We had a good mindset as a group coming into the game that if we played like ourselves we'd be able to change the tide of the series and that's what we did," Curry, who had 33 points including four three pointers, said.
Curry was off target in the Warriors' two series losses, averaging just 21 points.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr surprised Memphis by tossing 213cm tall Australian centre Bogut on the Grizzlies' 193cm shooting guard Tony Allen.
The Warriors' forwards Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green were left to handle Memphis bigs Marc Gasol and Zac Randolph.
With Bogut loosely following Allen, playing an almost zone defence, the Grizzlies' offence became unsettled by the strategy.
"They tried something a little different from what we have seen in the past, but we still have to execute and run our plays and not just slow down and take four or five seconds to understand what is in front of us," Gasol said.
Kerr said the Warriors' coaching staff came up with the strategy after Saturday's 99-89 loss.
"It worked, but it may not work next time," Kerr said.
Bogut had nine rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots, three steals and four points from 30 minutes on the court while Green had 10 rebounds and 16 points and Barnes six rebounds and 12 points.
The top seeds in the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks, also got back to winning form with a 106-101 away win over the Washington Wizards on Monday to even their series 2-2.
The Hawks went back to their trademark unselfish style, sharing the basketball with 30 assists and Jeff Teague scoring 26 points, Millsap 19 points, six assists and five rebounds and Al Horford 18 points and 10 rebounds.
In game three Wizards veteran Paul Pierce hit a game-winning buzzer-beater, but on Monday he missed a three-point attempt to tie the score in the final seconds.
Game five in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday in Atlanta.
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