They one-upped those by rallying to beat the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 and take a 2-0 series lead.
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The Trail Blazers came out of the locker room ready a day after a number of them remarked how the Warriors were a tremendous first-quarter team, as the defending National Basketball Association champions took a 20-point lead in the first quarter of Game 1.
Such was his mood Monday when someone inquired about the Golden State center often appearing mean and nasty.
The Warriors did just that in their 110-99 win that put them up 2-0 against the Blazers – but barely. Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum shoots in front of Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes during the first half in Game 2 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, May…
Klay Thompson scored 37 points and Draymond Green had 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the Warriors won 118-106 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicates.
The Warriors, playing without reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who is sidelined with a sprained right MCL, would reestablish their dominance in the third quarter, holding Portland to 9-of-27 shooting from the field and a particularly stingy 1-of-8 from three. Super sixth man Andre Iguodala added 15 points on six of nine shooting.
To Portland’s credit, it fought through the foul trouble and continued to answer every Golden State charge well into the third quarter. Both of those seasons ended with Warriors winning championships.
Damian Lillard led Portland with 25 points, and CJ McCollum added 22, but the Warriors’ surge was too much to overcome.
Shaun Livingston scored 14 points for his fifth double-digit performance during these playoffs filling in for Curry.
Thompson’s points tally included five from 14 three-point attempts.
Ezeli’s alley-oop dunk with 10:11 to play pulled the Warriors within 87-82 and he scored again as Golden State stayed within 91-84.
Ezeli blocked a Mason Plumlee shot, leading to two Thompson free throws on the other end as the Warriors extended the lead to 98-95.
The Blazers switched up defenders to swarm Thompson, from Allen Crabbe to Al-Farouq Aminu. Portland’s starting backcourt combined to shoot 13-of-43 from the field, with many of those makes coming when the game was already out of reach. They allowed 12 points in the fourth quarter, matching the fewest they’ve yielded in the fourth quarter of a postseason game.
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Andrew Bogut’s two early blocks got Golden State going Sunday. The Blazers not only fell way behind in the first quarter and shot just 40 percent – 10 for 31 on 3-pointers – they also were outrebounded 55-40 and gave up 16 offensive boards. But the Blazers, that team which lost four of its five starters from last season and whose very presence at this point in the playoffs is a testament to their collective spirit, clearly didn’t see it the same way.
