On February 14, we saw a spectacular game in Portland. The Moda Center was full of fans in red-black jerseys who supported their team in a win against the Golden State Warriors.
Portland had the lead for the entire game finishing with a six-point advantage. In the last Warriors’ game, former coach of the year Steve Kerr left the coaching job to the players and they defeated Phoenix convincingly by 34 points. But this time Golden State lost, although they had the coach.
Kevin Durant exploded and scored amazing 50 points
Contrary to his team’s defeat, 2017 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant stuffed Blazers’ net with 50 points in 37 minutes.
He accomplished 17 of his 27 shots and 10-of-10 free throws in his first 50-point game in nearly four years.
This six-foot-nine small forward is going to play as the starter in LeBron’s All-Star team this weekend, we can expect his domination on the court if his former teammate Russell Westbrook assists him like he used to do in the last year. This season, Durant averages 26 points, 6.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per 37 minutes of the game and he is the second on the Kia MVP candidates ladder, just bellow James Harden.
Damian Lillard run wild on Wednesday night scoring 44 points
The man who managed the rudder in his team’s amazing victory, Damian Lillard put forth a solid effort and dropped 44 points on 14-for-25 shooting and 12-of-12 free throws.
This is his second 40-plus game this season (the other was a 50-point effort in a win against Sacramento Kings) and he was the NBA Rookie of the year in 2013.This year Damian is going to attend his fourth All-Star game, playing as a reserve in Team Stephen.
Another Trail Blazer who gave his best in this game was CJ McCollum, the 26-years-old shooting guard from Lehigh, averaging 21.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 3.2 APG.
Against the Warriors, he had a spree and scored 29 points in 40 minutes. This is the player whose performances can vary, his season high was 45 points against the Bulls, and he is also the great three-point shooter with 42% this season.
This defeat dropped Warriors on the second place in the western conference
After the tragic night, Warriors are the second-seeded in the west with the 44-14 record.
The Houston Rockets broke into the first place with the easy win against the Sacramento Kings.
At the moment, Houston is the best team in the league according to statistics, and with the potential MVP, James Harden alongside Chris Paul, they are surely favorites for the title.
