It was an exciting Sunday afternoon in Oakland, California. The Golden State Warriors were playing their first game of the 2016-2017 postseason as they look to go all the way and win the NBA championship. They finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA (67-15) and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They will play the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round and the first game of that series was scheduled on Sunday afternoon. It was a sellout Oracle Arena in Oakland with 20 thousand Warriors fans ready to start their postseason journey.
Warriors were heavy favorites in this game as Portland was playing without their starting center Jusuf Nurkic.
Lillard and McCollum on fire in the first half
It was a close game through the first three-quarters in Oracle Arena. Golden State won the opening 12 minutes of the game 31-27. They couldn't pull away as Portland kept on coming and took a 47-46 lead midway through second quarter. The score was tied at 56-56 at halftime as Portland's backcourt duo of Lillard and McCollum put on a show. McCollum had 27 first-half points and matched a Portland playoff record for a half. Lillard finished the first half with 21 points. They combined for 48 of Portland's 56 first-half points. Neither team was able to pull away and the score was tied after the third quarter 88-88.
It was in the fourth quarter when Golden State went on a 15-2 run and never looked back. Their biggest lead was 16 points in that fourth quarter (121-105) and the final score was 121-109. This game featured 15 ties and 22 lead changes but the Warriors were able to win it comfortably. Steve Kerr's team finished with 26 assists and outrebounded the Blazers 45-38.
They shot 40.7% from the three-point line and 53.1% from the field.
Draymond Green with a great performance
Five Golden State players finished Sunday's game with at least 12 points. Kevin Durant led them with 32 points and added 10 rebounds. This was his first playoff game in the Warriors uniform. Stephen Curry contributed with 29 points and five assists but it was Draymond Green who was the star of the night.
He had an amazing performance on Sunday and finished the game with 19 points, 12 boards, nine assists, five blocks and three steals. He impacted the game both on offense and especially on defense with two big blocks on Noah Vonleh and Damian Lillard.
CJ McCollum finished the game with playoff career-best 41 points and added eight rebounds for the Blazers. Damian Lillard chipped in with 34 points and five rebounds. Lillard has scored 25 or more points in his last seven playoff games. The Blazers have now lost 11 of their last 12 matchups against the Warriors.
Game 2 will be played on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena.
