Portland has won two of those, becoming the first team to beat Golden State twice.
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Curry returned to practice Friday and there was speculation the he might play, but Golden State coach Steve Kerr was emphatic in the pregame media availability.
The Golden State Warriors saw how the other half lives against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Moving Maurice Harkless on to Thompson in Game 2 was Portland’s biggest adjustment, but it was evident to the Blazers coaching staff that something wasn’t right with Harkless.
Stephen Curry was missing for the Golden State Warriors as the Portland Trail Blazers beat them to cut their advantage in the Western Conference semi-final to 2-1. “This time we didn’t allow that to happen”.
In truth, if not for a career-high 37 points and eight three-pointers from Green, the Warriors were at risk of being run off the court. Game 4 takes place Monday night in Portland.
“That team, they had doubt”, he said of Portland. “You can expect Game 4 to be a battle”. Lillard’s three-pointer with 2:47 to play made it 114-97, but Green answered with his own three.
Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas, who averaged 19.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in the first two games, had 16 points and 12 rebounds when he got hurt with 8:53 left in the third quarter.
Lillard would have 10 points in the fourth as the Blazers managed to close out the game.
Everything known about basketball up until Curry’s emergence would have labeled this a awful shot by Lillard. It was one of just nine losses for the Warriors in a record-setting 73-victory season.
“You know, you kind of run out of superlatives, but he’s such a great competitor”, said Stotts of Lillard. “He’s doing fine. He’s not going to play tonight”.
The Trail Blazers came back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening round against the Clippers, whose chances dissipated after both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries. They led 87-76 going into the fourth quarter of Game Two, but were the outscored 34-12 for a 110-99 Golden State win.
After the game, despite saying he’ll keep shooting, he sounded like a man mad at himself for taking the bait. The surprise was that when the Warriors turned to trapping him harder in the second half, he was able to find teammates that were wiiiiiiiiiiiide open. The Golden State Warriors are shooting 39.9 percent from beyond the arc and 71.1 percent from the free throw line.
Outside of Leandro Barbosa’s 10 points, the Warriors didn’t get much else off the bench.
Lillard finished with eight 3-pointers, also a playoff high for him.
Get all of Ben Golliver’s columns as soon as they’re published. “But I did think it was my job to come out and be aggressive from the start”.
“When I look at this game I thought it was my worst game of the series”, Green said.
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They’re just better than everybody else, and when they play desperately with Curry, they’re much better than everybody else.
