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USATSI

The NBA announced that Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been fined $25,000 for throwing his mouthpiece into the stands during Wednesday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Curry was ejected for his act that occurred with just 74 seconds remaining in a close game, but the reason behind him throwing the mouthpiece stemmed from his team's unproductive offensive possession that ended just a few seconds prior.

With 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Warriors leading by two, Klay Thompson missed a mid-range jumper that would've doubled the Warriors' lead. Donte DiVincenzo grabbed the offensive board and quickly passed to Jordan Poole, and that's where things got out of hand.

With Curry calling for the ball, Poole threw up a quick 3-pointer. He missed. Curry, out of apparent frustration with Poole, angrily tossed his mouthpiece into the stands. That led to the officials immediately ejecting him from the game.

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The ejection was the third of Curry's career, and the other two were memorable for similar reasons. Both involved Curry throwing his mouthpiece. One came against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. The other, coincidentally enough, came against these same Grizzlies in 2017.

"He knows he can't make that mistake again," coach Steve Kerr said after the game.

Fortunately for the Warriors, Curry's absence didn't cost them the game. Though the Grizzlies managed to tie the score twice, the Warriors were able to win on a thrilling layup by Poole off of an in-bounds pass with just one second left on the clock. 

Poole shared his annoyance with the decision to eject Curry after the game. "There's no reason he should be thrown out in the last three minutes of the game," he said on the ESPN broadcast. "He's one of the greatest players of all time." Regardless of the outcome, the officials will face quite a bit of scrutiny for their decision to eject Curry. In a nationally televised game between two Western Conference rivals, the fans want to stars like Curry on the floor, not ejected for brief displays of emotion.