ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Portland Trail Blazers at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors took a 63-56 lead at halftime.
3rd Quarter – Trading 3 For 2
Draymond Green got the Warriors off to a great start, as he made a turnaround, then was the recipient of another beautiful pass by Stephen Curry in transition after C.J. McCollum missed a trey:
Curry makes all of this happen. Great energy tonight. pic.twitter.com/NwLut1iUrO
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) April 4, 2016
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Klay Thompson also used the gravity towards Curry by the Blazers defense to look away and get space down the lane for a layup.
But Damian Lillard proved why he’s the face of a franchise just one state to the north of ours, getting a nice finger roll after another Curry turnover, then getting a steal of Festus Ezeli’s inbound after a McCollum three, and drilling another triple to erase an 11-point deficit, down 71-66.
The two “point gods” went at it some more, with Curry connecting on a dribble-and-pop from the right elbow, Lillard coming back with a tough bucket in traffic, Steph going left side dribble-pop-and-swish, and Dame answering again with a driving lefty layup in the lane.
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But Curry had the last laugh as passed the ball from the left wing up top to Draymond, and Green passed it right back for a catch-and-shoot from the previous spot:
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The three gave the Warriors a 79-70 lead and with 6:44 remaining, Portland head coach Terry Stotts took a timeout.
But out of the timeout, Steph would continue the duel as he hit another triple on a designed “elevators” play from the top to give him 31 points:
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Although Lillard answered with another great drive into the teeth of the Warriors’ defense, Curry used a high pick-and-roll with James McAdoo to pull from the deep right wing for yet another three, and the Warriors took an 85-73 lead:
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Lillard answered with a triple, pulled from the deep right arc, Steph missed a three from the top, and Dame found Plumlee slipping to the rim as he jumped, looking as if he’d pull another three.
McAdoo made a couple buckets, but Lillard wasn’t done, getting yet another hoop inside after a Curry miss from the right side downtown.
After Henderson hit a baseline jumper over Shaun Livingston and Livingston traveled on the other end, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with the Blazers knocking on the door, down just 89-84, with 2:44 left.
Green blocked a McCollum attempt, leading to another McAdoo basket, then MCollum missed again, resulting in a Draymond left side attack, and after Leandro Barbosa swished a late shotclock three from up top, fed by Curry, McCollum lost the ball again to McAdoo and the outlet went to Livingston who lasered a pass perfectly to Barbosa for a fastbreak layup:
Getting out on the break on @CSNAuthentic & @NBATV! pic.twitter.com/QdU7nakLvn
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 4, 2016
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Green added an “and-one” with 2.5 seconds remaining, and the Warriors took a 101-87 lead into the final frame.
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4th Quarter – Draymond Registers Triple Double
To start the last quarter, Lillard and Klay both missed threes then McCollum was called for a travel.
Speights then found Klay Thompson cutting who finished the layup. Barbosa fouled Aminu who made both free throws then Livingston’s bad pass went out of bounds.
Klay blocked an Aminu jump shot, then on the next possession he found Harrison Barnes for the three pointer.
Henderson split a pair of free throws, Livingston turned the ball over again then Henderson made a driving reverse layup. Speights missed a three, Davis missed a shot then Mo Speights got the free throw line where he made both to give the Warriors 108-94 lead.
Lillard continued his his strong work, this time using the screen to find Davis with a beautiful bounce pass for the dunk. Speights tried to set a screen but was called for the offensive foul due to a hip check, then Damian Lillard got a step back jumper to go which gave him 34 points.
Klay and Henderson missed shots then Shaun Livingston got his usual turnaround jump shot to go in to extend the Warriors’ lead to 12. This time he took Lillard to the middle of the key to finish the bucket.
Lillard missed a three then Draymond Green gave the nice pocket bounce pass to a cutting Livingston who dunked it home. Portland called timeout with 6:48 to go and the score 112-98 in the Warriors’ favour.
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Curry checked into the ball game and straight away blocked Lillard’s shot. Green missed a shot then Klay fouled Damian Lillard who made both free throws. McCollum then stole the ball off of Curry and pulled up in transition to hit a three pointer. Steve Kerr called timeout as the lead was cut to single digits – 9 points with 5:48 to go.
Curry then took Harkless off of the dribble, got into the paint and got fouled as he just missed the and-one shot. Curry hit both then Rush fouled Lillard who also hit two free throws.
Draymond Green then found a cutting Thompson who got the and-one to go after being hit on the head by McCollum. That assist gave Draymond a stat line of 22-9-9 – just one rebound and one assist away from a triple double.
The Splash Brothers then connected on back-to-back threes which gave the Warriors a 123-105 lead after a 9-0 run. Green also picked up his 10th assist in the process.
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With 4:25 to go, Lillard missed a sideline shot and Draymond Green secured the rebound which gave him another triple double, his 13th of the season. The Oracle crowd cheered nice and loud when Green pulled down the rebound. Klay then missed a three, McCollum made a shot, then Barbosa got a lay-up and Rush hit a three.
Portland called timeout with 3:09 to go and the score 128-107 in the Warriors’ favour. Kerr took out his big three and the bench mob checked in to close out the game. Crabbe hit a shot, Rush hit another three, Barbosa got a banker to go and then Vonleh hit two free throws.
With 35 seconds to go, Mo Speights hit a three pointer to join the splash party, Montero turned the ball over then the Warriors dribbled out the clock.
FINAL: Warriors (69-8) won 136-111.
Draymond finished with 22-10-10-2-3, Curry had 39-6-7, Klay 21 and Barbosa 13.
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