MODA CENTER, PORTLAND, OR — Two nights after losing Game 3 to the Portland Trail Blazers (1-2), the Golden State Warriors (2-1) welcomed Stephen Curry back into the lineup, off the bench, for Game 4.
The Warriors were without Kevon Looney (hip). The Blazers were without Meyers Leonard (shoulder).
1st Quarter – Another Slow Start
The Warriors did not get off to the start they wanted, as Draymond Green tried to draw a charge on a driving Al-Farouq Aminu, who earned a trip to the line, Mason Plumlee picked an entry pass from Harrison Barnes to Andrew Bogut, and Shaun Livingston hooked Damian Lillard in the face while dribbling and setting up the Warriors’ offense.
Meanwhile, the Blazers picked up right where they left off on Saturday, with Maurice Harkless drilling a corner three, Lillard drawing an “and-one” on Klay Thompson on a three-pointer as Thompson flew by and got wrist while trying to block the jumper beyond the arc, and Lillard hitting another catch-and-shoot from distance on a feed from Aminu:
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With 9:15 remaining, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout as Portland took an early 12-2 lead.
Out of the timeout, Golden State kept missing, as the Warriors missed seven consecutive shots from the field, although Bogut did manage to swat Aminu nicely:
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The Blazers were also getting all kinds of offensive boards off missed Blazers shots that hit back rim. Even the diminutive Lillard outhustled the Warriors for a putback banker, and Plumlee got a long rebound over a switched Klay, then went past him for a dunk.
It wasn’t until Green hit a catch-and-shoot three from the left corner in front of the Warriors’ bench when the drought finally ended, but Portland still had a 16-5 lead with 5:32 to play.
At the 5:58 mark, Barnes and Livingston exited for Andre Iguodala and Curry, to boos from the Moda Center crowd, and Curry’s knee was put to the test immediately as he fought through two screens and was finally called for an off-ball hold.
C.J. McCollum eventually hit a three on that possession, then added a fade-away over Draymond after Iguodala missed a layup.
Curry’s first shot was a finger roll on a drive over Plumlee that was too short, and moments later, Green went down the left side, got hacked by Gerald Henderson. Henderson held on a bit after the whistle, Draymond didn’t like it, shoved Henderson away, and promptly got whistled a technical.
But out of the side-out from Henderson’s foul, Steph hit a dribble-and-pop on the right elbow:
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After a putback “and-one” for Iguodala, Portland head coach Terry Stotts called timeout with the Blazers up, 21-11, with 2:50 to go.
Out of the timeout, Thompson made a nice deflection of a pass to Lillard while not looking, and converted a run-out layup, but Curry airballed a pivot-and-launch triple, but came back with another dribble-and-pop from the right elbow.
Festus Ezeli came in and got a upfake-dunk under the hoop thanks to some nice wizardry from Curry…
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…but Steph had a jumper go in and out, and McCollum blew past Leandro Barbosa with a crossover just before the buzzer.
Curry tried a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but the shot hit the right side of the rim.
2nd Quarter – Late Blazers Flurry
Steph started the second stanza on the bench and, after a Barbosa jumper, Allen Crabbe scored an “and-one” jumper on the left elbow, but Marreese Speights hit two threes in a row and closed the gap…
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…as the Warriors’ “Big Three” of Curry, Thompson, and Green returned with 7:23 left.
However, McCollum hit another trey, Barnes drove in and flipped a pass back to Bogut, who wasn’t expecting it, and the loose ball ended up a reverse layup in transition for McCollum, getting past Draymond, who couldn’t turn fast enough to catch the speedster.
Right after that, Steph went down the right side of the lane and threw the ball out of bounds, intended for Barnes in the corner.
Stotts called a timeout as the Blazers held a 46-35 lead with 5:51 remaining in the half.
Out of the timeout, Curry got held twice, on-ball by McCollum then Aminu on the cut weakside on the baseline, but eventually the refs whistled an off-ball foul on Crabbe holding Thompson, leading to free throws due to the penalty situation.
On the next possession, Klay did well again to get his hand on a backdoor bounce pass to Lillard, and Steph made the Blazers pay with this upfake-jumper:
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Bogut came back with a stellar defensive strip of Lillard as he tried to split a double-team, and that led to a jump ball against Lillard which he easily won, but was instantly fouled by Aminu by order of a Stotts “Hack-A-Bogut”. Bogut made one of two throws to cut the Portland lead to 48-40 with 4:37 to play.
Lillard then missed and Bogut outlet to Green, who went coast-to-coast for an emphatic dunk:
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Aminu inbounded after the made basket, Draymond deflected it, but referee Scott Foster gave the ball back to the Blazers (incorrectly, per the replay), claiming that Green interfered with the inbound.
In any case, Aminu missed a three, so the extra possession didn’t hurt the Warriors, and Klay came right back with an upfake-pass to an open Iguodala, who canned a triple from the right arc, cutting the Blazers’ lead to just 48-45 with 3:56 to go.
After a timeout, Green committed his third personal on a drive by Lillard, but stayed in the game.
The Warriors chipped away, though, as Aminu missed two free throws on a loose ball foul by Bogut, Bogut made one of two on another “Hack-A-Bogut”, Iguodala got the offensive rebound on the miss, but Curry threw the ball away, although he claimed and the ref initially called it Warriors’ ball. They changed the call and the Blazers had possession, but Iguodala did a “Hack-A-Harkless”, and Harkless made just one of two.
With 2:56 remaining, the Warriors had the Blazers’ lead down to 51-47.
On a Lillard miss, Livingston outlet to Iguodala, who got fouled on a transition layup, but missed one, and Golden State got as close as 51-48.
Kerr took out Steph and brought in Ian Clark to “Hack-A-Davis” (Ed Davis), but Davis made one and Aminu slammed home the rebound of the miss of the second try.
The opened the flood gates for Portland. After Curry got a layup to keep the Warriors within six points, Lillard found Aminu for another jam, and Livingston answered with a put-in on a dime from Steph, with contact to the head that was not called.
A furious Livingston tracked down Foster and picked up two techs, leading to an ejection. Lillard made one of the two technicals to go up 59-52, Kerr brought in Ezeli for the foul-troubled Green and Barnes for Livingston, but Lillard weaved past the Golden State perimeter and found Crabbe for three from the right wing, then with Aminu on fire, Aminu hit a catch-and-shoot triple from Lillard again.
Just like that, the Blazers were up big again, 65-52.
Barnes got a twisting runner assisted by Curry, but that was answered yet again, this time by Plumlee with a slam, and Steph got an “and-one” on a layup, then Lillard missed a stepback over Thompson and Curry’s reverse went too hard, and Portland ended up taking a 67-57 lead at halftime.
Lillard led all scorers with 17 points, McCollum had 16, and Aminu racked up 11, while Curry was the Warriors’ leader with 11 points off the bench. Golden State had just 8 assists on 18 made field goals.
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