ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after taking a 1-0 lead in the 2016 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, the Golden State Warriors were back at #Roaracle to face the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry (sprained right MCL) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery).
The Blazers were with Meyers Leonard.
1st Quarter – Kovering Klay
Klay Thompson hit his first attempt, a left-corner trey opened up by an Andrew Bogut pick and an assist by Shaun Livingston…
And what do you know: McCollum gets caught on a Bogut screen, Klay drills 3 pic.twitter.com/irjmaPfPGj
— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) May 4, 2016
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…but the Warriors missed their next five shots.
Mo Harkless grabbed Thompson’s jersey on three separate occasions two possessions later, but there was no call. Livingston ended up missing a jumper, and C.J. McCollum got fouled and buried both throws.
After that, Klay and Livingston missed again, and Mason Plumlee found Damian Lillard for three from the top and McCollum hit a jumper in response.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout as the Blazers rushed out to a 10-3 lead with 8:56 remaining.
With Harkless draped over Klay, shots were few and far between for the Warriors, and McCollum stepped up his defensive matchup against Livingston with smothering defense, disruptiing Livingston’s midrange game.
The Blazers took their biggest lead of the game after a Livingston miss led to a McCollum fly-by of LIvingston in transition, but McCollum’s foot was on the line. That gave Portland a 19-5 lead.
Andre Iguodala subbed out Harrison Barnes, who couldn’t take advantage of his size mismatch with Lillard guarding him — Kerr opted to stick with the motion offense rather than iso Barnes in the post — and Iguodala delivered an entry pass to a Bogut push shot as Golden State finally broke the ice.
McCollum missed a fade then made a bad pass behind a cutting Lillard, and the Warriors went on a mini-run as Draymond Green got switched on by Lillard and went to the hoop with a “bully” post-up, then Green drove in and tipped in his own miss over Mason Plumlee.
Golden State drew back to within 19-11 with 4:49 to go, but Portland struck back with a Lillard-to-Plumlee pick and roll, leading to a dunk by Plumlee over the late-rotating Bogut.
Al-Farouq Aminu swished a triple, then Iguodala found Bogut again with a nice left baseline bounce pass and Blazers heac coach Terry Stotts called timeout as his lead got pared to 24-13 with 3:28 to go.
Iguodala struck again with a nice reverse layup, Thompson got a lefty layup in traffic, and Leandro Barbosa got this “hesi” layup in transition…
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…but after Harkless picked up his second personal, Gerald Henderson came in and dished to a cutting Ed Davis for a dunk, Anderson Varejao made a bad screen on Henderson, albeit with no remnants from their altercation in Game 1, and Aminu used an upfake to draw Green out and darted in for a dunk past him:
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Iguodala got a swish on a dribble-and-pop from the right baseline, but Klay had trouble getting open, still, as backup guard Allen Crabbe smothered him on and off the ball, with Thompson giving up the shot, passing to Varejao, and not being able to get open.
The quarter ended with a whimper as the Blazers took a 34-21 lead after the first period.
2nd Quarter – Black Falcon Rises
Things got off to an inauspicious start for the Warriors, even as Iguodala opened the quarter with a three. Marreese Speights couldn’t find his rhythm as he missed four shots, one an airball three, and committed this bad screen:
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After Speights’ fourth miss, he did manage to swat McCollum…
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…but knew his stint was over with a subpar performance as he sprinted back to the bench, knowing the starters were coming back in.
Later, after a Brian Roberts missed floater, Livingston got the board, outlet to Green, who fired a forty-foot dart to Barnes in the left corner. Barnes upfaked McCollum and soared past the helping Davis for a #BlackFalcon dunk:
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Stotts took a timeout, but the Blazers were still up by double-digits, 45-31, with 6:49 to play.
Kerr tried the “Hack-A” on Davis, but Davis hit one of two, then Barnes got another dunk on an alley-oop from Draymond.
Ian Clark came off the bench and, after Green blocked Davis to force a jumpball, eventually went into the lane for a spin and floater that trickled in, then Draymond blocked Harkless and Clark went coast-to-coast for the aggressive lay-in.
After a turnover from Plumlee to a cross-court intercepted by Green, Iguodala got this whirling reverse layup:
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Then Lillard missed a three, and Draymond found Livingston with a trailing jumper over Plumlee to cut the Blazers’ lead to 49-46 with 2:42 left.
But Aminu came back with a right-corner triple that Lillard also duplicated after Green got a reverse layup snuffed out by Plumlee, and Barnes committed a foul after losing the ball to Lillard. After the free throws, the Blazers were back up, 57-46.
Klay missed a three, Livingston a runner, and Aminu a jumper, and with multiple subs coming in for the last possession for the Warriors, Green found himself being covered by Lillard again, and once again bullied a high pinch at the free throw line into a jumper with contact.
Draymond sunk the jumper, with the foul…
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…and he and Lillard jawed at each other before the free throw with 4.2 seconds remaining.
After the free throw, Lillard got the inbound, zig-zagged with Green helping, and found Henderson on the right arc, but his shot was after the buzzer.
Green and Lillard jawed some more at each other as they headed to their respective locker rooms. The Blazers took a 59-51 lead at halftime as McCollum led all scorers with 14 points, plus 4 assists. Plumlee grabbed 7 rebounds. Lillard was a quiet 2-for-6.
Thompson and Livingston combined to shoot just 4-for-16, but Iguodala had 11 points off the bench on 5-for-5 field and Barnes also had 11 points. Green tallied 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @mrmillski)
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