MODA CENTER, PORTLAND, OR — Four nights after taking a 2-0 lead in 2016 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, the Golden State Warriors (2-0) flew up to #RipCity to face the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 3.
The Warriors were without Stephen Curry (right MCL sprain) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery). The Blazers were without Meyers Leonard (left shoulder).
1st Quarter – Klay Blazin’
Klay Thompson opened the game with a catch-and-shoot jumper delivered by Shaun Livingston, but the Warriors committed four turnovers in the next five-and-a-half minutes.
Livingston made a bad up-pass to Thompson, Livingston made another bad pass trying to setup Klay, Draymond Green got a defensive rebound, but fumbled the ball away trying to go coast-to-coast, and Thompson added another bad pass.
Luckily for Golden State, the Blazers shot just 4-for-14 out of the gate, plus a couple of turnovers of their own like this one from Al-Farouq Aminu…
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…and after a catch-and-shoot triple by Klay from a baseline inbound by Livingston, plus a tip-in by Andrew Bogut on a missed layup by Thompson that drew a lot of uncalled contact, the Warriors held a 10-9 lead with 6:29 remaining.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called timeout and went with his small-ball lineup, inserting Andre Iguodala for Bogut.
Green immediately scored a catch-and-shoot from the left arc, then Klay got one from the left side as the defense converged on Harrison Barnes’ drive, and Mason Plumlee finally broke the Blazers’ drought with a free throw after getting fouled by Livingston underneath.
Thompson got a cutting banker fed by Draymond, and Plumlee missed badly, with Green in his head as Plumlee bricked a floater, then went over Draymond’s back and sat down on the bench after that.
But after Klay got blocked by Plumlee’s sub, Ed Davis, on a reverse attempt, Damian Lillard swished a right-arc catch-and-shoot from C.J. McCollum, and Portland came back to close the gap to 18-16, Warriors, with 3:05 to play.
Klay added a three from the left wing on a cross-court pass by Draymond…
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…then a nice “running back” layup with ball protection down the right side…
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…but Lillard answered with a three from the top, enabled by a Davis pick.
Leandro Barbosa came back with a left banking runner, then after Lillard couldn’t get a layup to drop upon burning the shotclock down and trying to go past Thompson with the left hand, Barbosa streaked down the left side again and his layup was goaltended by Davis.
Gerald Henderson manufactured free throws after seemingly losing the ball on a catch attempt of a drive-and-dish from Lillard, with Festus Ezeli converging…
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…and the Warriors held a 28-22 lead after the end of the first frame.
Klay led all scorers with 18 points on 4 threes, while Lillard countered with 11 points and 3 threes. Golden State had 8 assists on 11 field goals, with Livingston and Green at 3 apiece, while Portland shot just 30.4% (7-for-23).
2nd Quarter – Warriors Can’t Answer Blazers Threes
Another odd call went against the Warriors near the beginning of the second stanza, as the Blazers lost, but recovered, a loose ball that went into their backcourt. Allen Crabbe took a desperation catch-and-shoot from the deep left wing, Barbosa flew by, apparently with no harm, but a split-second later, the referee blew the whistle and awarded Crabbe three free throws.
This caused some angst by a certain MVP on the bench:
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Aminu then got a dunk, “and-one”, past Green and over Bogut:
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Green also got a generous call on an attack down the left side which saw his elbow graze Lillard’s, then Draymond took Aminu strong to the paint for a runner, but Plumlee found Lillard on a cut to the hole and Bogut made a bad screen on Crabbe to try and free up Klay, Bogut’s third personal, and the Blazers moved ahead, 39-36, with 4:52 to go in the half.
Lillard hit another three from the top, but Green asserted himself, went down the left side past Plumlee, then again down the left side, gliding in for another scoop, and the Warriors hung around, down 46-42 with 2:59 left.
Green showed “ownage” of Plumlee again, taking a charge, but the Blazers’ threes were too much for Golden State as McCollum hit from downtown, then got himself to the line after Thompson missed a spin-fade deep in the left post.
Draymond was short on an open three, then drove on McCollum, but didn’t get a call, and Lillard came back with a drive on Ian Clark from the top. Clark did well to retreat and contain Lillard, but Lillard deftly found Aminu open on the left corner and Aminu swished the triple, forcing Kerr to call a timeout as the Blazers took their biggest lead, 53-44, with just 49.8 seconds remaining:
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Out of the timeout, Thompson missed a catch-and-shoot from distance on the right wing, contested well by the Blazers, then Lillard made a cold-blooded pull-up in Klay’s face on the ensuing sequence:
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Thompson managed to get a swooping left-to-right running banker to drop, despite the traffic, and with 11.4 seconds to go, Portland head coach Terry Stotts called a twenty-second timeout.
Lillard kept the ball himself on the last play, up-faking Klay to try and draw a foul. Thompson missed Lillard on the upper-body, but was called for the bump on the lower body, and Lillard made both.
The Blazers took a 58-46 lead into halftime as Lillard tallied 25 points on 8-for-13 field and 5 threes, while Aminu chipped in 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Thompson totaled 24 points on 4 treys, Bogut grabbed 8 boards, and Draymond collected 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Livingston dished out 5 assists in 13 minutes of play.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @airao23)
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