The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the visiting Golden State Warriors, 120-108, in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals to climb back into the series 2-1 at Moda Center on Saturday.
There was no shortage of impressive shooting in Game 3, as the Trail Blazers received a needed offensive explosion from Damian Lillard, Al-Farouq Aminu and C.J. McCollum, who combined to keep the Warriors at bay all game long. Golden State jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Blazers bounced back and outscored the league’s best team in the second period 36-18. Lillard finished the first half with 25 points, and was quiet in the third quarter before returning to for a typical lights out fourth quarter showing. Aminu was deadly from the field, and was nearly perfect through the game, but his biggest moment came after a corner three, which he completed, turned to Stephen Curry (knee) and stared him down as he walked back on defense late in the game. Curry sat out of practice, but is still nearing a return. Head Coach Steve Kerr said that Curry has a slight chance to play in Game 4, but with that is dependent on the situation after Game 3.
The Warriors, who from the box score seemed like the game would have been closer than it was, saw Klay Thompson and Draymond Green really step up. Thompson and Lillard were trading threes for most of the game and both were able to finish at the rim, create off the dribble and pull up off screen and rolls. Thompson added 35 points on 14-of-28 shooting, while Green stuffed the stat sheet with 37 points (including eight three-pointers), nine rebounds, eight assists, one steal and one block. Shaun Livingston added five points and 10 assists in place of Curry, and the bench was kept quiet for most of the game, save for Leandro Barbosa’s 10 points.
Lillard and McCollum combined for 62 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists on an 22-of-45 shooting. Aminu contributed 23 points and 10 boards on 8-of-9 shooting and was perfect through three quarters of action. The Blazers shot 56.7 percent from behind the arc, which eclipsed the Warriors mark by almost 10 percentage points.
Game 4 will take place at Moda Center on Monday.
