The last game of the NBA playoff scheduled for Saturday had the Warriors playing against the Portland Trailblazers. The Warriors would be playing short-handed, as Kevin Durant was out due to a calf strain and head coach Steve Kerr would miss Saturday's game due to an illness.
The Warriors fell behind against the Trailblazers, and the Warriors weren't looking like a championship team. But in the third quarter, they dominated the court and cut the lead to one point in the fourth. Steph Curry took over the fourth scoring 13 and hitting a dagger three under a minute to go.
The Warriors completed the comeback, beating Portland 119-113.
Second Half Dominance
At halftime, the Warriors were down 67-54 and were looking for answers as the backcourt of the Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum dominated the game in the first 24. But in the third quarter, the Warriors found the groove and went on one of the patented runs. They outscored the Blazers 33-21 in the third, led by Klay Thompson and Javale McGee.
Thompson channeled his game six performance last year against the Thunder, making a ridiculous amount of threes with or without a hand in his face. Javale McGee sparked the team with a monster dunk that looked like it would go over his head. He did an OBJ impression and snatched the ball and put down the ferocious dunk.
The Warriors' 21-3 run in the third help the cut the lead down to single digits.
In the fourth quarter, it was Steph Curry's time to shine, as he led the team to the victory in the final quarter. Curry scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, finding the holes in the defense and capitalizing.
He put the nail in the coffin with a step back three late in the game over Alex Crabbe.
Curry didn't shoot well from three, only shooting 5-14 from deep. Curry and the Warriors finished the game the way the should've started it, playing efficient basketball.
All but over?
With this win Saturday night, the Warriors now have that famous 3-0 lead over the Trailblazers. The chances of the Trailblazers coming back are very slim but never count them out.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum combined for 73 points in game three, and they had their star big man in Jusuf Nurkic back from injury. But in game four, Portland will need to pull out all the tricks, as their season is on the line. Lillard will need to have a game for the ages along with McCollum, as they are the leaders of the team.
One thing they need to do is limit the turnovers, as the Trailblazers had 16 turnovers that lead to 21 Warriors points. The Trailblazers are in what many believe to be an impossible spot trying to win a series being down 0-3. Can they do it?
The Warriors managed to withstand a first-half onslaught from the Trailblazer and comeback to win the game late. The Warriors are likely to finish out the series in game four, but the boys in Portland aren't going to go down so easily.
Catch game four on TNT on Monday at 10:30 p.m. EST.
