MODA CENTER, PORTLAND, OR — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of Golden State Warriors at the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Blazers took a 68-62 lead into the second half.
3rd Quarter – Ugliness
The #SplashBrothers combined for nine points out of the gate, but the Blazers countered with C.J. McCollum hitting shots, then exchanging floaters with Mason Plumlee. Plumlee added a free throw, Noah Vonleh cut hard to the rim and got assisted by Damian Lillard, and Portland pulled away to an 84-71 lead with 6:30 to go.
Curry came back with a pivot-and-launch handoff from Draymond Green, but Lillard ansered back, drawing a touch foul on Steph from behind as Dame rose and made a triple from the top. The foul was Steph’s fourth, but Warriors head coach Steve Kerr left him in the game as the Blazers took an 88-73 lead with 6:07 remaining.
Klay, Draymond, and Steph all made turnovers, but luckily for the Warriors, the Blazers couldn’t capitalize.
Things got even sloppier for the Warriors as Andre Iguodala and McCollum traded wild turnovers in the Warriors’ frontcourt, Moe Harkless eventually scored against a porous Golden State defense, aided by McCollum’s sixth assist, and Green committed his eighth turnover as he got past Ed Davis at the perimeter but lost the ball out to the baseline.
Out of the timeout, Kerr took out Curry, and Harkless continued to play like an All-Star, hitting a three from the left corner to take an eye-popping 100-75 lead against the world champs with 2:02 to go.
Harkless added another putback, but a Green defensive rebound with an outlet lead pass to a streaking Leandro Barbosa finally stopped the bleeding, but only momentarily.
Draymond lost the ball again for his ninth turnover, Henderson ended up with a dunk at the other end, and Shaun Livingston lost the ball on a spin in the lane on the last possession of the third. Vonleh somehow missed a layup over Iguodala at the buzzer, but the Blazers still led by a whopping 25, 104-79, after three periods.
4th Quarter – Lillard Goes Nuts
Thompson started the final frame with a triple but it didn’t spark anything as he missed a layup, Iguodala missed a trhee, and with Curry on the bench with four fouls, Lillard dominated the spotlight by hitting consecutive treys, including a pull from 25 feet with a pick that forced Brandon Rush onto him.
That pulled the Blazers further ahead to 112-84 with 9:02 left.
Shortly thereafter, Lillard split the Warriors’ perimeter and scored a pretty one-handed finger roll and the Blazers had their largest lead at 114-85.
Kerr pulled Thompson, who joined Curry and a left-elbow-iced Green on the bench, as Kevon Looney, then Ian Clark, then Jason Thompson.
Looney got a tip-in, but it was still the Lillard Show as Dame went down the right side for a layup to give him 40 points, then hit three treys that got more ridiculous at every heat-check.
After a pull-up from a couple feet beyond the arc at the top that almost looked lackadaisical, Lillard pulled up from near halfcourt and drained another one to notch a career-high 49 points, then drew three free throws on a foul by Clark.
Lillard finished the night with 51 points, overshadowing Curry’s 31 and Klay’s 23, although Steph did not play in the fourth quarter and might be fresh enough for the back-to-back tomorrow night in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
Green had 14 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, but also 9 turnovers in the loss, which set the Warriors back to 48-5 on the season. The Warriors committed a total of 20 turnovers.
McCollum added 21.
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