This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers took a 62-57 lead into the third quarter.
3RD QUARTER: Iguodala Creates Late Separation
The Warriors went on a 12-2 run to start the second half, with the Blazers only getting an initial Alonzo Gee alley-oop dunk out of the break, assisted by a Damian Lillard lob on a set play.
But Andrew Bogut answered with a bunny inside, then tipped the ball twice, the second one of which dropped in, after Draymond Green couldn’t convert on a lefty layup going coast-to-coast, then had a great interior pass to a wide open cutting Stephen Curry for an easy right-handed banker from the left side.
After Dorrell Wright missed a layup that was retrieved by Bogut, outlet to Klay Thompson, who gave a swing pass to Curry who drained the triple from the left corner.
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Blazers head coach Terry Stotts called timeout to stop the bleeding and, all of a sudden, the Warriors were up 69-66 with 8:27 to go in the third frame.
Once again, Portland got off to a good start of the next stretch, as Lillard buried a three, but then it was all Warriors again.
Thompson cut into the lane then went with a harder cut to trick Lillard, and Draymond Green delivered a perfect entry pass for the easy bucket for Klay. Curry got a teardrop, Bogut a lefty jam assisted by a nice bouncer from Steph…
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…and Green got a two-hand slam on a slip after the Blazers had no choice but to double Curry at the three-point line as Draymond slipped the screen.
Just like that, the Dubs were up 77-69 and Curry’s 6th assist forced Stotts to call timeout with 5:41 to go in the third.
But as he did in the first half, CJ McCollum provided a spark for Portland that brought them back, getting an and-one layup, plus a right-handed banker, beating Justin Holiday just enough to have the body in front of Holiday, who was draped all over him in pursuit.
Curry missed a jumper, then Lillard drilled one, stopping and popping, and Kerr called timeout with 3:00 remaining with the Golden State lead dwindled to 82-77.
Then Andre Iguodala gave the Warriors separation. After Curry buried a triple and Holiday made a tremendous in-transition layup taking big steps to finish a right-handed layup down the lane, Iguodala received a backdoor pass from Green and slammed it home, then Leandro Barbosa pushed the ball ahead on a Blazers miss and Andre swished a jumper from the left elbow, giving Golden State a 91-79 lead with 50.8 ticks left.
Iguodala wasn’t done.
Alan Crabbe missed a fading jumper, and Iguodala came down the floor, dribbled, stepped back, and drained another jumper with 13.8 seconds remaining, giving the Warriors a 93-80 lead at the end of three periods.
Five Warriors were in double-figures along with Curry, who had 27 points. Thompson added 14, Green and Iguodala had 11 apiece, and Bogut had 10. Meanwhile, Lillard led Portland with 26 points, followed by McCollum with 16 and Wright with 12.
4TH QUARTER: Curry Slams The Door On Blazers
Iguodala stayed hot, starting the final frame with a dribbling three-pointer. Barnes, who had barely gotten any shots up in the game until then, got a jumper and the Warriors were making shots at an incredible 60% clip. Festus Ezeli even got into the mix, as Iguodala drove past the Portland perimeter, drew multiple defenders, and dished for Ezeli’s dunk.
But McCollum made a nice spin and a layup over Ezeli, then Iguodala threw the ball away, going “just a little bit outside” on a fastball alley-oop attempt to Holiday, and Crabbe got the Blazers as close as 100-91 with a three-pointer as a result. Kerr called timeout with 8:02 to play.
Curry came in for Holiday and slammed the door on the Blazers, getting an immediate layup down the right side of the lane, going over-the-head with a laser pass to Green at the cup, then using his shoulder to get around Afflalo, into the lane, and crossing the lane with a beautiful “just-passing-through” finger roll.
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Golden State was back up 106-93 with 5:59 left.
Stotts changed things up, putting Gee on Steph, but “Chef Curry” went with an array of spices, going between the legs, behind the back, shoulder fake, lefty inside-out dribble to force a blocking foul. Portland was running out of time, now down 110-95 with just 4:34 remaining.
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When he made mistakes, Curry was spectacular in atoning for it. He lost a ball to McCollum, then read McCollum’s eyes and stole it right back, delivering a bullet sling pass to Barnes, who missed a layup at the rim, but got fouled.
After Lillard took it upon himself to make something happen with a stop-and-pop fade-away trey over Curry, Steph made another precision pass, this time to Iguodala under the rim for a ferocious two-handed jam.
Dame desperately gave his last gasp, getting past Thompson into the paint with a jump stop, only to be thwarted by Green, who stripped the ball away.
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A frustrated Lillard then fouled Green on a catch in the paint and Stotts called his last timeout with the Warriors in command, 114-99, and just 3:01 away from a Pacific Division title for Golden State.
The Dubs starters plus Iguodala in place of Bogut to close things out, didn’t waver as the clocked ticked away. Green played a two-man game with Thompson, then went between-the-legs on an attack inside, but fed Iguodala, who was waiting beyond the arc on the left elbow. Andre hesitated for a millisecond, but still splashed the triple.
The highlights continued, as Curry went with an inside-out dribble, then delivered yet another lefty sling pass, this time to Barnes who didn’t blow the layup.
After McCollum scored an and-one versus Green, the Warriors put the death knell to the Blazers as Iguodala stole a pass from up top by Steve Blake, then outlet to Curry, who rewarded Andre with a finger roll lob pass that ended with a two-hand slam with Iguodala.
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The Warriors won, 122-108, as Curry tallied 33 points and 10 assists on 13-for-22 shooting, 5-for-8 downtown. Green collected 14 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists. Bogut had 10 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists. Thompson added 16 points on 6-for-13 field. Barnes chipped in 13 points on 5-for-6 floor. And Iguodala had 21 points off the bench, 9-for-11 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Lillard had 29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists in defeat, while McCollum had a career-high 23 points off the bench.
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