SANTA CRUZ >> Like paramedics working frantically to revive a flatlining patient, the Santa Cruz Warriors kept their fading playoff hopes alive — albeit barely — Sunday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

With Golden State head coach Steve Kerr looking on from courtside, guard Quinn Cook scored a game-high 41 points and added 10 assists to lead Santa Cruz to a 132-120 victory over the visiting Memphis Hustle and keep the minor-league Warriors in the hunt for an NBA G League postseason berth.

“Obviously, Quinn being with us means a lot, primarily since he’s been away (with Golden State) the past couple of weeks,” Santa Cruz coach Aaron Miles said. “He was excited to play with us, and it did give us a boost.”

Sunday’s game also marked a one-game rehab assignment for Golden State rookie Jordan Bell. The 6-foot-9 forward, who had missed 14 games with an ankle injury before returning to the NBA’s Warriors on Feb. 26, was assigned to Santa Cruz to shake off some of the rust he’d accumulated while recovering from his injury, Kerr told sports website SB Nation.

Bell finished with 14 points — including a pair of dunks — along with six rebounds and five assists in 28-plus minutes of action.

“I got to play some minutes and get some of my rhythm back,” Bell said. “With (Golden State), that’s hard to do because of all the good players they have on the team.”

Jeremy Pargo added 23 points and 10 assists for Santa Cruz (21-21). Center Damian Jones contributed 18 points — a slew of which came on dunks — and 10 rebounds, and Damion Lee added 18 more points off the bench for the Warriors.

Santa Cruz entered Sunday’s game trailing the Sioux Falls Skyforce by two games and the Oklahoma City Blue by one in the race for the sixth and final playoff spot in the NBA G League’s Western Conference. Sioux Falls and Oklahoma City, however, are both vying for the Midwest Division title, and the winner gets into the playoffs automatically.

This means the Warriors are really chasing the Texas Legends, who hold the Western Conference’s fifth spot with a 24-18 record. The Warriors have just eight games — one of which is against the Legends on March 13 — to make up a three-game deficit.

Given that four of the Warriors’ remaining games are against teams that have either secured a playoff spot or are fighting for one, the Warriors certainly face an uphill battle to reach the postseason.

That battle could get even tougher if Cook gets another call-up to Golden State. Given that Sunday’s game was his third 40-point effort of the season, it’s very possible that his current stint with Santa Cruz could be a short one.

While Cook’s ultimate goal is to land a full-time job in the NBA, he wouldn’t mind staying in Santa Cruz a little while longer if need be.

“It was fun to get back with my guys, the coaching staff, everybody,” Cook said. “These guys are like family, and it was good to get a win.”

The G League’s Warriors opened Sunday’s game with a 12-0 run and never trailed after that. The Hustle (17-27), however, didn’t exactly let the Warriors get comfortable either, repeatedly whittling Santa Cruz leads down to single digits before the Warriors rallied to go back up by 10 or more.

Memphis climbed to within four points in the fourth quarter when guard Dusty Hannahs buried a 3-point shot with 9:24 remaining. The Hustle hadn’t been that close since the first period.

The Warriors responded with a 17-8 outburst that included two dunks by Jones — one on an alley-oop pass from Pargo — and a 3-pointer by Cook.

Pargo capped the run with the layup that put Santa Cruz up 121-108. Memphis never got within single digits after that.

Based on the desire the Warriors showed in beating Memphis Sunday night, Cook wouldn’t be surprised if Santa Cruz strung a few wins together and ultimately did make the postseason.

“Our guys are doing it together,” Miles said. “They’re playing with joy in each other’s success, and that’s huge, especially in this league.”