Two days ago, Draymond Green stated that the Portland Trail Blazers were "done" and that the Warriors advancing was just a matter of time. Despite receiving criticism for the comments, he was right. The Golden State Warriors advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive season with a 125-121 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in Oakland Wednesday night.
The Warriors will face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs in the next round.
In a series that produced a lot of points and even more great moments, the decisive game five would be no different. The Blazers were in command for the majority of the game before the Warriors mounted another comeback for the victory.
Curry's fourth-quarter show
After being honored with the presentation of his second Most Valuable Player trophy, Stephen Curry proved yet again why he is the most dynamic player in the game. Curry took the last shot of the third quarter and ended the frame with a three-point bucket to give the Warriors a 93-91 lead heading into the fourth.
That's when the real fun began.
Curry scored 14 of his 29 points in the final seven minutes of fourth quarter and put on a clinic reminiscent of the magic he had in game four. He finished the game 5-11 from deep and came up with several key scores for the Warriors down the stretch. Curry pushed the Warriors lead to seven at 106-99 with a jumper. Damian Lillard had an opportunity to cut the lead to two but missed the jump shot. Curry came down on the following possession and converted a three to make it 116-109 with 3:11 left to go.
The Trail Blazers continued to fight, led by the heroics of the league's Most Improved Player. C.J. McCollum scored 16 points in the final quarter, including 15 straight points for Portland in the final five minutes. He made it a one-point game after making a layup and converting the foul attempt to make it 110-109. McCollum also hit a key three-pointer and jump shot to make it 118-114 with 2:24 left.
Klay Thompson, who also had a great night offensively, came up big on the defensive end against Lillard. Thompson forced Lillard into a tough fadeaway with 40 seconds to go that would have tied the game. Curry then hit what would ultimately be the dagger with a quick-release three over excellent defense by Al-Farouq Aminu with 24.9 seconds to go, Warriors leading 121-116.
"I'm just going to go out there any play my offense in the role of the rest of the offense," Thompson said. "I'm not going to try to go out there and take the ball away from him (Curry) when he's in a zone like that. Going behind-his-back, hitting step backs from 25-feet. It's a pleasure to watch. I don't know if there is anyone else in the league who can do that."
Curry finished with 29 points and 11 assists while his backcourt partner Thompson chipped in a game-high 33 points on a red-hot shooting night. Thompson made 13-17 shot attempts, including 6-9 from deep. He had big second and third quarters, scoring 13 points in the second after falling into foul trouble in the opening minutes of the game and dropping 16 in the third to put him at 33 points through three quarters.
"We know it's only going to get tougher as we move forward," Curry said. "That's a really talented team and it gave us a lot to learn from. We just have to keep fighting and pushing and moving on and using the experience we've gathered from this year and last year as well."
Another Portland half-time lead
The Trail Blazers took a 63-58 lead into the break despite leading by as many as double-digits. It marked the fourth consecutive game in the series that Portland led at halftime.
Lillard converted a three-point play to put the Blazers up 18-8 in the first quarter to set the tone early. Curry would sink a three to ignite an 11-0 run to make it 21-20 Portland with 3:40 left in the first. Aminu would give the Trail Blazers their own run with eight-straight points of his own in the second quarter with a layup and a pair of threes to make it 47-38 Portland.
Allen Crabbe was big for the Blazers off the bench. He finished the game with 20 points and had a big three-point make in the second quarter to push the Blazer lead to 10 at 59-49 with 2:05 to go.
Warrior's injuries
Both Green and Andrew Bogut suffered injuries in the game five close out. Bogut left the game at halftime after suffering from a right adductor strain. He recorded four points and four rebounds in just nine minutes of action. Green turned his ankle in the third quarter but returned from the locker room in the fourth to finish the game and is expected to be ok.
"It happened in the transition play," Green said. "It's a bit sore. I came down on the side of it. It's something that has kept occurring. These few days off will be good for me, to rest up and try to get it back right as much as possible."
Final notes
Lillard was very active in the first half, scoring 21 of 28 points in the opening half. He finished with seven rebounds and seven assists while going 12-12 from the free throw line. McCollum added 27 points and was 3-5 from the three-point line to go along with eight boards. Aminu, who spent much of the final moments trying to contain Curry, scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to go along with a solid night on the defensive end of the court.
After losing four of five starters from last season, it appeared Portland would be a lottery team this year. But after getting hot in the second half of the season, the team surpassed low expectations.
Green added another solid overall performance for the Warriors. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a technical, his fourth of the postseason. A one-game suspension follows for receiving seven technicals in the playoffs.