Curry’s haul of 29 points and 11 assists included five three-pointers, the last of them sealing the win with 24.9 seconds on the clock and ensuring Golden State’s second straight trip to the finals. It is for good reason, though, as the Golden State Warriors sharpshooter is breaking records and making it look like the National Basketball Association is his playground. “When you play a great scorer like Damian, you don’t let him get into a good rhythm, and that’s what he was in in the first half”.
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Woooo! As you can see in the above clip, though, the guy Sonya got real close with isn’t Steph’s dad, Dell Curry. Curry played off the National Basketball Association commissioner’s blank by doing a little shimmy before collecting his hardware for the second consecutive season. But then as the Warriors do, they completely erased the deficit and took the lead. They did that in the playoffs and they didn’t learn that lesson against the Warriors quick enough.
Curry averaged an NBA-best 30.1 points per game to go with 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds. Curry dropped in 22 of his 29 in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Stephen Curry has been quoted as saying too that if they don’t win the championship, it doesn’t matter what they have achieved in the season, as it is the playoffs and the post season where you have to make your mark.
Even Klay Thompson, who hit six threes of his own on his way to a game-high 33 points, understood that his job on the decisive play was the same as the rest of Oracle Arena, awash in matching yellow T-shirts: to spectate. Playing the Warriors when they’re on is like trying to fight the ocean, but Portland put everything they had into this series and played with as much heart as any team has in these playoffs. Clinging to a two-point lead against a Blazers team that had nothing and everything to lose, the Warriors made sure there would not be a 13th lead change on Wednesday night. “But we don’t have those kind of guys”.
The Warriors once again got off to a slow start in the game, trailing 63-58 at halftime.
In advancing to the Western finals for the second year in a row, the Warriors await the victor of the Oklahoma City Thunder-San Antonio Spurs semifinal.
“It was mostly just Steph making a play”, Steve Kerr said candidly. “It could easily have been a seven-game series”.
The Warriors were pushed in all but one game in beating Portland 4-1, and they figure that will help them going forward.
“To be honest, I haven’t had a conversation with my agent about this (free agency)”, said Leonard, who said his focus was on rehab. McCollum had the match-up with Curry and was the only thing keeping the Blazers alive. “And what he’s been able to do offensively, hopefully that doesn’t get lost in our series”.
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But the Blazers also departed grappling with the same two-part predicament that haunted the Pelicans, Grizzlies, Rockets and Cavaliers past year. “We had a taste this season as a young group of how well we could do, and what it takes”.
