SCINTILLATING SURGE
With Kerr out and missing key pieces, Warriors rally behind McGee, Thompson
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Warriors didn’t have their star small forward, their head coach and two key bench pieces. But Game 3 showcased the benefit of all the gluttony they’ve built.
Three All-Stars, a seasoned assistant coach, a former Finals MVP and a revived 7-foot pogo-stick center remained, all combining for a thrilling 119-113 comeback win in Portland, giving the Warriors a commanding 3-0 series lead and allowing their ailing co-workers needed rest without repercussions.
Kevin Durant remained sidelined because of his ailing calf. An ill Steve Kerr remained in his hotel room for the game. Shaun Livingston and Matt Barnes remained out. The Blazers took advantage of those absences early. They
blasted out to an an 11-3 lead in the opening minutes and maintained a hefty cushion for most of the first 30 minutes.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum—heldcompletely in check by the Warriors in Game 2 (23 combined points on 9-of-34 shooting) — returned home and returned to form in Game 3. The duo finished with 63 combined on 20 of 46, with most of that damage done in the first three quarters. When McCollum nailed a transition 3, set up by Lillard, with 8:30 left in the third quarter to put the Blazers up 16, the smell of blowout filled the Moda Center.
The Warriors, lazy and late to get back in transition on the play, looked ready to concede Game 3 and round up the sidelined cavalry for a huge Game 4.
But midway through the third quarter, JaVale McGee entered the game and the team’s energy level bolted. McGee — a camp invite snatched off the scrap heap and not guaranteed a roster spot — has continually produced when called upon in small spurts this season. He was huge in Games 1 and 2. He was even bigger in Game 3.
Using his size advantage, McGee made himself available a few times high in the air, finishing an outrageous reach-back lob dunk, set up by Draymond Green, and another less outrageous but equally important layup lob, again set up by Green, to key the game-changing run.
The Warriors were electrified by McGee and the previously cold Klay Thompson turned into a microwave. He only scored seven first half points and missed both of his 3s. But right out of halftime, acting head coach Mike Brown drew up a beautiful play design that freed up Thompson for a wide open wing look. He buried it and his fuse was lit.
“(Mike Brown) was the MVP tonight,” Green said.
Thompson made his first four 3s in the third quarter, including a personal 8-0 run, when he sandwiched two free throws with two big 3s. The second of which was set up by a ferocious McGee and Stephen Curry trap at halfcourt, forcing McCollum into a rushed pass, which was stolen by Thompson. The 3 brought the Warriors within four.
Another Thompson 3 a few minutes later was followed by a runout fastbreak ending in a tomahawk Andre Iguodala dunk, which tied the game at 83. When McGee made a layup on the following possession, the Warriors had their largest lead of the game to that point: 85-83, late in the third quarter.
McGee finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 16 minutes. He is 15-of-20 shooting for 35 points in 37 minutes during this series.
“You guys saw: He was fantastic,” Brown said of McGee.
But a back-and-forth fourth quarter remained. With 5:35 left, an Evan Turner jumper trimmed the Warriors lead to 100-98. Curry, after a quiet start, did the honor of putting Portland away. A series of Iguodala dunks — four in the second half — had the Warriors up 104-100 with 61 seconds left. But Iguodala missed an open 3 and the Blazers, with a rebound, could tighten it up.
But they couldn’t get the rebound. Rookie Patrick McCaw — who replaced Durant with an impressive 11-point, five rebound, fiveassist, three-steal night — slid in to steal away the rebound and pitch it out to an open Curry at the top of the key.
Curry stepped into and planted the dagger 3 to put the Warriors up seven with 49 seconds left. The Blazers tried to crawl back in the closing seconds, but Curry followed up the 3 with a fadeaway and four free throws, giving him nine of his game-high 35 points in the final minute and delivering the Warriors an incredible comeback victory and 3-0 series lead.
“A heck of a win by our guys,” Brown said.