Draymond Green lobbed to Kevon Looney for a go-ahead hoop with 52.9 seconds remaining, then converted a Stephen Curry assist into a layup of his own 40 seconds later, allowing the Golden State Warriors to outlast the Portland Trail Blazers for a 114-111 win Thursday night and 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
The best-of-seven moves to Portland for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Monday, respectively. Warriors standout Kevin Durant, who missed the first two games with a strained right calf, already has been ruled out of both Portland games and Wednesday's Game 5 back in Oakland, if it's necessary.
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the third quarter and by eight with just 4:28 to play, the top-seeded Warriors scored 14 of the game's final 17 points to sweep their opening two home games against the West's third-seeded club.
Green's lob to Looney came after Seth Curry had put Portland up 111-110 with a 3-pointer with 1:02 to go.
After CJ McCollum misfired with a chance to counter Looney's hoop, the Warriors converted at the other end on Stephen Curry's pass to Green for a three-point lead with 12.3 seconds to play.
Needing a 3-pointer to tie, Damian Lillard had the ball stripped by Andre Iguodala while elevating for a desperation 28-foot attempt, sealing Golden State's win.
Stephen Curry had 37 points to lead the Warriors, who have lost just once in their last 11 playoff games against Portland. Klay Thompson added 24 points, Green 16, Looney 14 and Jordan Bell 11 for Golden State, which shot 51.2 percent. Green also contributed 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks in the win.
Lillard had a 23-point, 10-assist double-double to lead the Trail Blazers, who shot 44.2 percent. McCollum finished with 22 points, Seth Curry 16, and Maurice Harkless and Rodney Hood 12 apiece for Portland.
The Trail Blazers led 108-100 after a 3-pointer by Meyers Leonard with 4:28 left before the Warriors scored 10 straight, the final three on three free throws by Stephen Curry with 2:01 to go.
Seth Curry countered that with his 3-pointer, setting up the frantic finish.
Seemingly rejuvenated by getting a day off Wednesday -- after having been rushed into Game 1 in the wake of an emotional series win over Denver -- the Trail Blazers threatened to blow out the two-time defending champs, going up 67-50 in the first minute of the second half.
But the Warriors quickly rallied, getting 13 points from Thompson and 11 from Stephen Curry in a 37-15 flurry that turned a 17-point deficit into a five-point lead before the period's end.
The Trail Blazers led by as many as seven in the first quarter, but it was in the second period that they began dominating the game.
Portland led just 42-39 at the midpoint of the second quarter before Lillard and Seth Curry combined for 14 points in a 20-6 burst that opened a 17-point advantage late in the half.
Lillard, who was scoreless for the game's first 20 minutes, finished the half with 10. Portland led 65-50 at the break.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
The Golden State Warriors made 24 of 25 shots bridging the second and third quarters Wednesday night, breaking open a close game en route to a 141-102 shellacking of the short-handed San Antonio Spurs in Oakland, Calif.
The Spurs elected to rest their top two scorers, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, in the second game of their eight-game "Rodeo Trip," with the second half of a back-to-back looming Thursday night against the Trail Blazers in Portland, Ore.
Facing a team that held them to 92 points in November, the Warriors led just 49-45 late in the second period before finishing the half 7-for-7, extending the advantage to 66-52 at halftime.
The two-time defending champs then made their first seven shots of the second half, a flurry they extended to 17 of 18 while turning the contest into a 114-81 blowout in the final minute of the third period.
The Warriors scored 49 points in the quarter, giving them 115 for three periods, the most ever allowed through three quarters in the Gregg Popovich era in San Antonio.
Klay Thompson had 26 points and Kevin Durant 23 for the Warriors, who won for the 13th time in their last 14 games.
Durant also found time in his 29 minutes to record team highs with eight rebounds and nine assists.
Stephen Curry had 19 points, DeMarcus Cousins 15, Andre Iguodala 11 and Kevon Looney 10 for Golden State, which accumulated 42 assists, the most by the Warriors this season.
Golden State shot 57.9 percent for the game and 16 of 34 on 3-pointers.
Pressed into his first start of the season with three regulars -- including Derrick White -- out of action, Patty Mills made four 3-pointers to lead the Spurs with 16 points.
Rudy Gay added 15 points, Davis Bertans 12, Dante Cunningham 11 and Bryn Forbes 10 for San Antonio, which began its long road excursion with a 127-112 loss at Sacramento on Monday.
The Spurs shot 43.2 percent, 12 of 32 on 3-pointers.
San Antonio hung within 53-50 on Mills' third 3-pointer of the first half with 3:04 remaining in the second period before the Warriors used three steals to ignite an 11-0 flurry.
Durant, Curry and Draymond Green had steals in the 1:38 spurt, with Iguodala benefiting with two dunks at the other end among five Golden State hoops.
The Warriors led 66-52 at the break, with Durant scoring 17 of his 23 and Thompson 16 of his 26.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Stephen Curry scored 23 of his game-high 26 points in the first half Monday night as the Golden State Warriors extracted a measure of revenge with a 132-100 thumping of the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
The Warriors won their 11th straight, their 10th in a row on the road, against a Pacers team that last season became the first Eastern Conference club in the five-year Steve Kerr coaching era to sweep a season series from Golden State.
The 132-point output was the second most by a Pacers opponent this season. It was the seventh time in the Warriors' past 13 games that they reached 130.
The loss was the second straight for Indiana since losing standout Victor Oladipo for the season to a torn quad tendon last week.
Curry hit all five of his 3-point attempts and 9 of 10 shots overall in his first-half explosion, during which the Warriors scored 40 first-quarter points en route to an early 21-point lead.
Curry finished 10 of 13 from the floor, 6 of 8 from 3-point range, in helping the Warriors complete a 5-0 road trip.
Playing in his just fifth game, DeMarcus Cousins dropped in a season-best 22 points for the Warriors. He also found time for six rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes.
Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson added 16 points apiece and Kevon Looney had 15 for Golden State, which improved its NBA-best road record to 18-8 despite giving Draymond Green the night off to rest.
Andre Iguodala, playing on his 35th birthday, contributed six points, six rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots to the Warriors' cause.
The Warriors outshot the Pacers 54.1 percent to 42.6 percent.
Myles Turner led five players in double figures for Indiana with 16 points.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 15 points, Darren Collison 13 to go with a team-high eight assists, Aaron Holiday 12 points and Thaddeus Young 11 for the Pacers, who had won their previous three home games.
The Pacers fell to 7-6 this season without Oladipo, the team leader in scoring and steals.
Indiana also played without Tyreke Evans, who had replaced Oladipo in the starting lineup Saturday at Memphis. Evans was bothered by back soreness.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
