Too bad the Portland Trail Blazers (53-28) most likely will not be facing the Golden State Warriors (49-31) in the playoffs. If Sunday's 119-117 overtime victory for Rip City was any indication of what kind of series these two teams would engage in, a Blazers - Warriors series would be must see TV.
This game was a back and forth seesaw battle with both teams giving each other their best shots all night. Both teams shot lights out from the field with Golden State hitting 48.4% of their field goals, and Portland hitting an even 50% of their shots for the game. Both teams were wicked from beyond the arc also, with the Blazers knocking down 41.7% of their treys, and the Warriors shooting 17 of 37, for 45.9% from downtown.
The Blazers boasted six players in double figures for the game with LaMarcus Aldridge leading with 26 points and seven rebound. Nicolas Batum brought his all around game to the table again, and finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds to go along with five assists. Wesley Matthews also came up big dropping 24 points on the stat sheet.
The Blazers did so much right and deserved the hard fought win. The only thing they did wrong was not hold Warriors point guard, Stephen Curry in check. Curry was ridiculous in this game finishing with an efficient 47 points on 16 of 19 shooting, including 7 of 14 from beyond the arc. Fellow "Splash Brother", Klay Thompson, had 25 points and did most of his damage in the second half. Klay was also lethal from deep, hitting 6 of 10 from downtown for the game. Even Andre Iguodala was hitting everything, knocking down 7 of 10 shots for his 15 point contribution.
The question that is going to be on the minds of Warriors fans is:" Why didn't Stephen Curry take the final shot?" Stephen Curry was used as a distributor in the closing seconds of the overtime on the Warriors final attempt to hit the game winning three. It was a well designed play that got Andre Iguodala; who was the man that inbounded the ball, a wide-open look. But "Iggy" missed the look at the game winner. Can't be mad really at Mark Jackson's decision to let Iguodala take the last shot given his penchant for hitting game winning shots in past games this season. But Curry had 47 points and was on fire, a lot of people are going to feel like they should have gone down with their superstar while he was scorching in that final second situation. It was still a good look for Iguodala though, and the complaints won't hold to much water.
The Blazers have one final game left on the docket, and it comes Wednesday when they face the Los Angeles Clippers. Portland still has a chance to move up to fourth place in the Western Conference which would mean homecourt advantage in their opening round series with Rockets, so Portland will be giving the Clippers their "A" game come Wednesday.
Meanwhile the Warriors need to stay healthy at this point. Andrew Bogut left this game with an aparent rib injury and the severity is unknown. Only accomplishment for the Warriors to obtain is a 50 win season, which is something the franchise has not had since the 1993-94 season. The Warriors have two games left to get that done. First chance will be Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at The Oracle. It would be nice for "The Dubs" to pull that off in front of their fans in Oakland.