Injured star Stephen Curry (left) celebrates with teammates Draymond Green and Shaun Livingston during the Golden State Warriors’ 110-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that gave the defending champions a 2-0 lead in their NBA Western Conference semifinal series.
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The Golden State Warriors once again put on a championship effort when it looked like they had their backs against the wall. One good sign from game 1’s loss was the play of Portland’s bench.
Portland still led 95-94 after a Moe Harkless basket with 5:21 to play. 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.
Fans cheer after Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala (9) scored against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half in Game 2 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series in Oakland, Calif., Tuesday, May 3, 2016.
Portland have beaten the Warriors this year, but that was down to Lillard.
Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 25 points, while C.J McCollum add 22 points.
And without Curry, the Warriors couldn’t just flip the switch as they normally do.
Klay Thompson was among those who got going late, scoring 20 of his 27 points in the second half.
“Portland was phenomenal in the first-half”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It just happens. It’s human nature. The other team comes out angry, (and) maybe you let your guard down a little bit”.
This game, though, was even more extreme because the Warriors were down by double digits for most of the first 39 minutes, and then outscored the Blazers 28-8 over the last nine minutes.
Next game, they might have him back and really get rolling. Lowry’s struggles continued after he shot 31 percent from the floor during the Raptors’ first-round series win against Indiana. “Nights like tonight, we’ve got to close it out”.
The Heat started the fourth on a 7-2 run to build a 10-point lead. We did a nice job with the Clippers. That would put him on target to return for Game 4 at the earliest, but Curry believes he might be ready for Saturday’s Game 3.
Warriors’ Australian centre Andrew Bogut had seven rebounds, four points and two big blocks, but it was reserve centre Festus Ezeli who was the X-factor.
Portland was equally hot as the Warriors were cold in the early going.
Trailing by as many as 17, the Warriors opened up the fourth quarter on a devastating 15-4 run, buckling down defensively and finally flowing on offense. It was Golden State’s first halftime deficit at home of these playoffs.
Myers laughed about Curry telling ABC he felt his chances of playing in Game 3…were “pretty good” because the reigning MVP usually says he can play.
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Centers on both teams had huge numbers but not a lot of impact on the game. Stephen Curry is questionable with a knee injury. There was only so much film they could watch, only so many Warriors-specific plays they could learn before a 12:30 pm tipoff Sunday afternoon in Oakland.
