The Golden State Warriors went down to a heavy loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in their playoff series on Saturday night but it looks increasingly unlikely that their NBA MVP Steph Curry will be returning to the team for Game 4.
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The defending National Basketball Association champion Warriors were still without reigning MVP Steph Curry, who sprained his right knee in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against Houston.
In addition to Lillard’s stellar performance, C.J. McCollum added 22 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added 23 points and 10 boards to the stat sheet.
“We had an opportunity last night earlier in the game to take advantage of”, said Livingston, whose team led by as many as eight points in the first quarter.
Draymond Green contributed a career playoff-high 37 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and Klay Thompson added 35 points for the Warriors, who were without injured star Stephen Curry. A three-pointer by Lillard gave Portland a 93-77 lead late in the third quarter before Golden State’s Draymond Green made his fifth three-pointer of the period.
The Warriors lead the series 2-1 despite Curry missing all three games.
Coach Steve Kerr said it was highly unlikely Curry would be available on Monday.
The Golden State Warriors lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 3 in a ugly loss.
They’re just better than everybody else, and when they play desperately with Curry, they’re much better than everybody else. Then we let them get going, hit a couple shots and now they’re feeling good about themselves. McCollum scored 22 for Portland.
After the game, despite saying he’ll keep shooting, he sounded like a man mad at himself for taking the bait.
Last season with the Hawks, Horford ended up averaging 15.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
Curry did not address reporters after Sunday’s practice, but it might be more hard than ever for him to digest the prospect of missing another playoff game – especially against an upstart opponent led by one of the league’s most dynamic guards in Lillard.
“A lot of times, the team will go as I go”, said Lillard, who was sensational in Saturday’s 120-108 win, collecting 40 points and 10 assists while exploiting the void left by Curry.
After getting in a decent pre-game workout on Saturday, Curry might be back for Game 4 here on Monday; it’s probably 50-50 at this point.
The Warriors didn’t move the ball crisply on offense, settled for quick shots and didn’t wear down Portland’s best scorers, who punished the Warriors defense on the other side.
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“I’m a confident person, all around, even when I step away from the game”, Lillard said. “It seems like all season long, whenever we’ve needed a big night, he’s come through for us”.
