The Portland Trail Blazers dominated the first seed Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. It was a must win game for Portland, who trailed the Warriors 2-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals matchup before Saturday’s meetup. The Blazers bested Golden State, 120-108.
The Trail Blazers were led by none other than Damian Lillard. He was unstoppable the entire game, scoring 40 points – 25 of them coming in the first half – 10 assists, and 5 rebounds shooting 8-13 from the three-point line. Other huge performances for Portland came from C.J. McCollum and Al-Farouq Aminu. McCollum started off slow, but finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists but Aminu was hot from start to finish, as he posted 23 points on 8-9 shooting, 4-5 from the three-point line also He recording 10 rebounds and a block.
Klay Thompson had 35 points for Golden State while Draymond Green flirted with a triple double, scoring 47 points, securing 9 rebounds, and dishing out 8 assists.
The Blazers played well on Saturday, but still trail the series 2-1. If there win against Golden State means anything, it means they can compete with the Warriors, and will provide them with a tough challenge throughout the rest of the series.
The Blazers chance of winning the series is slim, but they could certainly make this series interesting. Portland is young, very young, in fact, their entire starting lineup is 26 years old or younger and out of the 16 playoff teams, they have the youngest roster. Portland nearly won Game 2, up double digits entering the fourth quarter, but as young teams do, they collapsed in the game when it mattered most. They never wavered on Saturday. Lillard was just one step ahead of every Warrior on the court. He was able to create space and score for himself, but was able to involve his teammates as well. Al-Farouq Aminu was a spark for Portland, and Golden State never could find an answer for him. When Damian Lillard was quiet for most of the third quarter, C.J. McCollum stepped up and led the Portland charge. Even Ed Davis was a problem for the Warriors, as he posted 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal in 29 minutes off the bench.
The Blazers shot over 56% from the three-point line in game 3, and while some of that can be accounted to Lillard and his craziness, the rest can be attributed to good offense. Portland moved the ball, and that is why Aminu was able to hit all four of his threes. On defense, Portland worked to stop Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, but ultimately took out the rest of the Warriors on the court. Thompson and Green attributed for 72 points and the rest of the Warriors combined for only 36 points. The Blazers also won the turnover battle, only committing 10 to the Warriors 12.
Game 2 was very similar up until the fourth quarter. The Blazers were moving the ball well, recording 22 assists in the game. They were scoring at will, and were shutting down Golden State on offense. Unfortunately for Portland, they fell apart in the 4th. While they could not score due to the Warriors solid defense, Golden State exploded for 34 fourth quarter points to the Blazers 12. The Game 2 meltdown was all the Blazers needed to make sure they put Golden State away this time in game 3 for good.
The Warriors will likely have Stephen Curry, who missed the first three games of the series with a sprained knee, back for Game 4. Curry will obviously be a huge upgrade over Shaun Livingston, and with Curry, the Warriors have a chance of getting back to form. That relies on Curry being 100% when he returns.
The Blazers need to pray that Steve Kerr and the Warriors decide to hold Curry out one more game, but even if Curry returns, the Blazers will be ready. Portland beat a fully healthy Golden State squad by 32 points earlier this season behind a huge Damian Lillard 51 point game.
Golden State is the favorite to win the series by far, but Portland will not go down easily. Behind the talented backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Blazers are going to be a challenge for Golden State in their journey to the NBA Finals.
