It hasn't been as easy as the 3-0 series lead may make it seem, but the Golden State Warriors are just one win away from sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers and winning the Western Conference for the fifth straight season.
Despite being down by nearly 20 points for the second consecutive game, the Warriors battled all the way back in the second half on Saturday night to stun the Blazers and steal Game 3. Steph Curry continued his torrid pace, Draymond Green put together one of his best playoff games ever, while Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum continued to struggle.
Now, the Blazers will try to become the first team in NBA history to win a playoff series after going down 3-0. Their chances are super slim, though, and to make it even worse, Lillard isn't at 100 percent due to separated ribs he suffered in Game 2.
Warriors: The Warriors have continued to find success without Kevin Durant, winning four straight games now since he suffered a calf strain in Game 5 of their second-round series with the Rockets. There's been plenty of discussion about whether or not they're better without K.D., but at the very least they play a far more exciting style, Durant's absence forces Kerr to make Steph
Curry the primary option on offense, and they run all sorts of pick-and-roll actions instead of iso-ball. It's the style that made everyone fall in love with the Warriors in the first place, and as the past few weeks have shown, it's still pretty successful. It will be quite interesting to see what happens when Durant returns -- both in terms of how the Warriors play, and how well they do.
Blazers: Portland has had a tremendous run this postseason, reaching the conference finals for the first time in 19 years despite playing without Jusuf Nurkic for the entire playoffs. And while the Blazers are crashing out in pretty heartbreaking fashion against the Warriors, the truth is that they've just run up against a better team. Even without Durant, the Warriors have an unreal collection of talent, and it's proven to be too much for the Blazers -- especially with Lillard not 100 percent. Their
season isn't officially done yet, but when it does come to a close, hopefully Blazers fans will be able to look back on it fondly, and admire what their team was able to do the past few weeks.
While the Trail Blazers owned the first half, building a 66-53 lead, they were no match for the Warriors in the second, getting outscored 57-33 to lose 110-99. Stephen Curry scored 36 points and Draymond Green had a triple-double of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to give the Warriors a 3-0 series lead.
Curry is the first Warriors player with 35 points or more in the first three games of any series and Green now has seven playoff triple-doubles. The Warriors improved to 30-1 in the last 31 games when Stephen Curry plays and Kevin Durant sits.
CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 23 points but he was just 7-for-20 from the field and 2-for-10 from 3-point range and Damian Lillard had 19 points on a poor 5 of 18 shooting. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Lillard has separated ribs and is playing through his injury. The star guard suffered the injury in Game 2, when Kevon Looney landed on him during a battle for a loose ball.
Despite being down by nearly 20 points for the second consecutive game, the Warriors battled all the way back in the second half on Saturday night to stun the Blazers and steal Game 3. Steph Curry continued his torrid pace, Draymond Green put together one of his best playoff games ever, while Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum continued to struggle.
Now, the Blazers will try to become the first team in NBA history to win a playoff series after going down 3-0. Their chances are super slim, though, and to make it even worse, Lillard isn't at 100 percent due to separated ribs he suffered in Game 2.
Warriors: The Warriors have continued to find success without Kevin Durant, winning four straight games now since he suffered a calf strain in Game 5 of their second-round series with the Rockets. There's been plenty of discussion about whether or not they're better without K.D., but at the very least they play a far more exciting style, Durant's absence forces Kerr to make Steph
Curry the primary option on offense, and they run all sorts of pick-and-roll actions instead of iso-ball. It's the style that made everyone fall in love with the Warriors in the first place, and as the past few weeks have shown, it's still pretty successful. It will be quite interesting to see what happens when Durant returns -- both in terms of how the Warriors play, and how well they do.
Blazers: Portland has had a tremendous run this postseason, reaching the conference finals for the first time in 19 years despite playing without Jusuf Nurkic for the entire playoffs. And while the Blazers are crashing out in pretty heartbreaking fashion against the Warriors, the truth is that they've just run up against a better team. Even without Durant, the Warriors have an unreal collection of talent, and it's proven to be too much for the Blazers -- especially with Lillard not 100 percent. Their
season isn't officially done yet, but when it does come to a close, hopefully Blazers fans will be able to look back on it fondly, and admire what their team was able to do the past few weeks.
While the Trail Blazers owned the first half, building a 66-53 lead, they were no match for the Warriors in the second, getting outscored 57-33 to lose 110-99. Stephen Curry scored 36 points and Draymond Green had a triple-double of 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to give the Warriors a 3-0 series lead.
Curry is the first Warriors player with 35 points or more in the first three games of any series and Green now has seven playoff triple-doubles. The Warriors improved to 30-1 in the last 31 games when Stephen Curry plays and Kevin Durant sits.
CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 23 points but he was just 7-for-20 from the field and 2-for-10 from 3-point range and Damian Lillard had 19 points on a poor 5 of 18 shooting. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Lillard has separated ribs and is playing through his injury. The star guard suffered the injury in Game 2, when Kevon Looney landed on him during a battle for a loose ball.
