Lillard’s 40 points lift Blazers past Warriors
PORTLAND, Ore. — Damian Lillard had a playoff-best 40 points and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided a fourthquarter letdown to beat Golden State 120-108 on Saturday night, cutting the Warriors’ advantage in the Western Conference semifinal to 2-1.
The defending NBA champion Warriors were still without reigning MVP Steph Curry, who sprained his right knee in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Rockets.
Al-Farouq Aminu had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and CJ McCollum added 22 points for Portland. The Trail Blazers led 58-46 at the half and stretched the lead to as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Draymond Green had 37 points, and Klay Thompson added 35 for the Warriors. They had won four straight against the Blazers.
Game 4 is Monday night in Portland.
Harrison Barnes’ 3-pointer and Leandro Barbosa’s long jumper closed the gap to 105-92 for the Warriors with six minutes left. Lillard’s 3-pointer with 2:47 made it 114-97, but Green answered with his own 3.
McCollum’s 3-pointer pushed Portland’s lead to 120-106 with 1:22 left and the Warriors couldn’t catch up.
Avoiding a fourthquarter letdown was key for Portland. The Blazers led 87-76 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2, but were outscored 34-12 in the fourth quarter by the Warriors. Portland managed just six points in the final 5:21. Lillard, who finished with 25 points including 17 in the third quarter, was held scoreless in the fourth.
Curry returned to practice on Friday with a brace on his knee.
Curry, who averaged over 30 points per game in the regular season, worked in a 2-on-2 drill on Saturday before Game 3. Coach Steve Kerr said he expected him to go 3-on-3 on Sunday, but would not speculate on his availability for Game 4. RAPTORS 95, HEAT 91
Kyle Lowry scored 33 points on 11-for-19 shooting to snap out of a postseason funk as Toronto won at Miami in Game 3 to reclaim the home-court edge in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.
DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds in just 22 minutes to help the Raptors take a 2-1 series lead.
Both teams lost their starting centers — Miami’s Hassan Whiteside with a knee issue of still-unclear severity in the second quarter and Toronto’s Valanciunas with a sprained ankle in the third quarter.
Dwyane Wade had 29 of his 38 points after halftime and had eight re- bounds for Miami. Goran Dragic scored 12 points, and Joe Johnson had 10.
Game 4 is Monday night at Miami.