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 57-56 lead into the third stanza.
3rd Quarter – KD Explosion
The third quarter got off to a slow start, but then after Damian Lillard missed and Zaza Pachulia got the rebound and outlet to Stephen Curry. Curry got flanked by Klay Thompson on the right. Klay got the ball on the right wing, then darted the ball over to Kevin Durant on the deep right side for a catch-and-snipe triple:
KD with the #SPLASH … pic.twitter.com/bZJuiMYy95
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) October 22, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js What were the Blazers supposed to do in that instance? After another miss by Portland, Draymond Green bounded down the floor and, with Curry and Thompson as wing targets, found KD down the lane for two big steps and a massive one-handed jam:
KD with the #SMASH pic.twitter.com/FZvn8GN2o4
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) October 22, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js That gave the Warriors a 64-58 lead with 9:02 remaining as Portland head coach Terry Stotts called a timeout. Pachulia started getting physical down low, semi-flopping with Mason Plumlee, but eventually Zaza picked up a technical foul. But that would be the only blip on the Warriors’ radar, as Steph curled over to the left wing and got a catch-and-pivot triple on his left foot, assisted by Durant from the top. Later, after Maurice Harkless missed a jumper, Curry found Durant on the left arc and he splashed three more. Lillard tried to answer back, but missed a three at the top, and Durant found himself on the right side isolated against Plumlee, and abused him with some crossovers, eventually stepping back from the right corner for another three, although Plumlee did all he could with pretty decent defense, given the circumstances: https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js Harkless couldn’t stop the bleeding as he missed again, and Steph dribbled up and flipped the ball to Durant on the right hashmark, and KD buried the 32-footer to take a 78-63 lead: https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js Stotts called a mercy timeout with 5:43 to play, as Durant amassed 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
4th Quarter – Got A Little Close
The Dubs entered the 4th with a 90-72 lead. With both teams starting cold, the first points of the quarter were on a C.J. McCollum layup for the Blazers. After a missed three by Andre Iguodala, Noah Vonleh scored another basket for Portland on the assist from Allen Crabbe. Durant answered back with a two for the first Warrior points of the quarter with 10:14 left.
Out of the timeout at the 8:30 mark, the Warriors led 94-82.
Coming out of the timeout, Durant received the inbound pass, then he found a wide-open Iguodala for a layup to give the Warriors a 96-82 lead.
After a stretch of misses and sloppy plays by both teams, the Blazers were able to cut into the Warrior lead to 98-92 after Pat Connaughton’s jumper.
Both teams missed scoring opportunities, but then Meyers Leonard hit a shot to again make it a six-point game and the score was 102-96. Both teams missed shots on the next few possessions, but in the end, it was Ian Clark who closed out the scoring with a three making the final score 107-96 Warriors.
Curry led all scorers with 35 points and also added 8 threes made. Durant finished the game with 28 points, 5 threes, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Ian Clark had 17 points and made 3 threes, while Thompson had 9 points shooting only 1-8 from three.
With the win over the Trailblazers, the Warriors finished the preseason with a 6-1 record and now move on to the regular season as they host the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. Follow @poormanscommish
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
