The Golden State Warriors defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 119-113 on the road to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. This was a great matchup between two of the best backcourts in the league as Curry-Thompson combined for 58 points and the backcourt of Lillard-McCollum combined for 62 points.
To start things off, the Blazers got out to an early 11-3 lead and were the aggressors early and fed off the momentum of being on their home-court. Damian Lillard can be credited with a large part in the Blazers hot start as he hit three of his first four three-point attempts and ended the first quarter with 15 points.
The Blazers continued their hot start heading into the 2nd quarter as they went on yet another 11-3 scoring run capped off by an Allen Crabbe three at the 9:17 mark.
Allen Crabbe sinks the shot and gets the foul!
4?-Point play!#RipCity pic.twitter.com/Kaz7rbErzZ
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 23, 2017
However, the Warriors quickly countered with a 9-2 run of their own and cut the Portland lead to 51-43 with 6 minutes remaining. But the Blazers were able to end the half strong and capitalize on the 8 for 25 combined shooting of both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
Mirror opposites of one another, the backcourt of Lillard and McCollum combined for 39 points in the first half and helped the Blazers shoot a scorching 51% from the floor. The Blazers also can credit a lot of their success on the 29 to 14 rebound differential in the first half as well.
In the 2nd half, the Blazers appeared to still be on fire as McCollum came out and scored 10 straight points to push the lead to 80-66 with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter. That is until the Warriors caught fire and ended the third quarter on a 21-6 run and were being led by Thompson who scored 14 points in the quarter. The lead was now 88-87 Blazers entering the fourth, but the Warriors had appeared to seize momentum with their big third quarter.
Oh look, Draymond Green and JaVale McGee connecting..AGAIN.#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/HBrtRcpufp
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 23, 2017
For much of the fourth, these two teams traded blows leads up until the midway point of the quarter. After a Curry three and an and-1 by Ian Clarke, the Warriors led 100-96 and started to buckle down defensively thanks to Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. Down the stretch, the Warriors were hitting every shot they needed to make to keep the lead comfortable and was capped by a proverbial Curry dagger three that seamlessly put the game away.
Wow stephen currypic.twitter.com/IYUngjlLum
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) April 23, 2017
After a hot first half, Damian Lillard went only 2 for 10 in the 2nd half and his presence was missed down the stretch. The Blazers gave a valiant effort and fought hard the whole game, but ultimately couldn’t hold off the Warriors for a full 48 minutes. Now the Warriors will look to go for the series sweep in game 4, at the Moda Center on Monday night.
