USA TODAY International Edition
Warriors bury Blazers for 3-0 Western lead
PORTLAND, Ore. – Stephen Curry doesn’t have an explanation for it. Draymond Green has no idea why. Steve Kerr is plain grateful for it. Simply put, the Warriors don’t have a clue why they are awesomely, destructively, instinctively good in the third quarter of games.
Yet they are, and they were again Saturday, a post-halftime explosion being the predominant reason two-time defending champ Golden State is on the verge of putting the Trail Blazers away.
The Warriors’ 110-99 victory to open up a 3-0 advantage in the Western Conference finals wasn’t the most resilient or convincing of displays. For parts of the first half they were outscored, outthought and outhustled at Moda Center. However, this is a team capable of racking up points in huge bunches for which the rival defense has no answer. When they did it again, it turned the game on its head.
The Blazers were feeling good about their chances when they went into the break holding a 66-53 advantage, but they were up against a different opponent after the interval, or at least one with a different mind-set.
Golden State dominated the third quarter 29-13, stifling the home side’s offensive threat and finding its scoring touch in the process. Curry had another exemplary game in the absence of injury-stricken Kevin Durant, pouring in 36 points, including six 3-pointers.
It was earlier this season that the Warriors scored 49 points in a quarter against the Spurs. That was a third quarter. In 2015, Klay Thompson scored 37 points in a quarter. That was a third quarter. In Game 2, Golden State broke the Blazers’ backs with a surging run, and you can guess when it happened. Same again here. Thompson proved to be an able deputy once more, adding 19 points, while Green chimed in with 20 in addition to 13 rebounds and 12 assists for his seventh career playoff triple-double.
Damian Lillard had spoken of his desperation for Portland to protect its home court, but he struggled his way to an inefficient 19-point haul, while C.J. McCollum led the hosts with 23. Neither was able to stem the tide when it began to spin away from the Trail Blazers in the third.
So the Warriors keep chugging along, with just one more victory separating them from a fifth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. Was it really just 10 days earlier when Durant went down in Game 5 against the Rockets and their entire campaign seemed in limbo? Right now, Kerr’s biggest dilemma is figuring out what to do with the stretch of downtime they’ll face if they polish off Portland on Monday.
The Blazers have been able to hang with the Warriors for long periods. But at the times they haven’t, when the Warriors have pushed the magic button, it has been clinical, awe-inspiring and truly decisive.