Steph Curry Led Another Warriors Comeback As They Sweep The Blazers In Overtime

When the Golden State Warriors pulled off a comeback victory in Game 3 against the Portland Trail Blazers, the result of the Western Conference Finals was no longer in significant doubt. Still, there was work to be done for the reigning champs and, during Monday’s Game 4 face-off, the Blazers left nothing in the tank in pushing the Warriors to the brink. In the end, however, Golden State prevailed with a 119-117 overtime victory and that spelled the end of Portland’s season in sweep fashion.

The pace was blistering at the outset, with both sides zooming to strong offensive starts. Portland and Golden State each started with 7-of-9 shooting from the floor and defense was optional.

Part of that onslaught came from the Warriors’ trio of stars, with Draymond Green posting six assists in the first quarter and the team’s backcourt combining for 22 points.

On the Portland side, the story was Meyers Leonard, who connected from all corners of the floor to the tune of 14 points in the opening period.

All told, the Warriors shot 70 percent from the floor, including 6-of-10 from three, and the Blazers matched them with 60 percent shooting of their own to stay engaged. Then, Portland took control with an 8-0 run early in the second quarter and, moments later, Leonard connected on back-to-back threes to give the home team a 59-50 lead.

The Blazers led by as many as 12 points but that sizable edge wasn’t maintained, as Curry scored the final eight points of the half by himself to bring the Warriors within a four-point margin.

For Portland, it was a career-best performance from Leonard, setting a new mark for individual success on a full game level with 25 points, including 5-of-6 from three.

(Somewhat) quietly, Curry matched Leonard stride for stride with 25 of his own and that, in concert with eight assists from Green, allowed the Warriors to remain in solid position.

Though it wasn’t Leonard continuing as the focal point, the Blazers picked up where they left off after halftime, with an 11-2 run to take a double-digit lead. As often, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were in the middle of it with long-range marksmanship.

After the Warriors put together a mini-response, Portland extended their lead. This time, it came with a 10-0 run to take the largest advantage of the evening at 95-78.

The margin wasn’t safe, though, as Golden State did what they often do in slashing the advantage in a hurry with a 12-0 run between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Portland staved off the barrage for a few minutes but the Warriors weren’t done making runs, executing at a high level on the way to a 14-3 explosion to tie the game at 104-104 with 4:34 to go.

Things got even wilder from there, with the Blazers taking a three-point lead on a memorable throw-down from Leonard.

On the other end, Thompson buried a game-tying triple in a way that very few players could.

After misses from McCollum, Curry and Lillard in succession, the Blazers engineered a stop with some help from a traveling violation.

That blunder set up one final opportunity for the Blazers to win the game in regulation with 10.7 seconds remaining, but a potential walk-off went begging from Lillard to send things to overtime. In the extra frame, things slowed considerably, with both sides struggling to generate coherent offense at the outset. In fact, the Warriors and Blazers combined for only five points in the first three-plus minutes and that, in turn, kept the tension high.

McCollum buried a jumper to give Portland a brief lead but, after a put-back by Alfonzo McKinnie (on the floor due the injury-related absence of Andre Iguodala) and a miss from Evan Turner, Green connected on what would become the game-winner to put the Warriors up by a 119-115 margin with 38.8 seconds on the clock.

Lillard did answer with a bucket after a timeout and the Blazers picked up a defensive stand on the other end of the floor. That left Portland with a chance to either tie or take the lead on offense, but the home team came up empty in the final seconds and the series came to a close.

Curry and Green were at the center of everything for the Warriors and, as usual, the two players affected the game in (very) different ways. Curry produced a triple-double with 12 rebounds and 11 assists, but the two-time NBA MVP also exploded for 37 points, including seven connections from beyond the three-point arc. As for Green, the do-everything big man finished with a triple-double of his own — 18 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals and two blocks — with the Warriors needing every bit of that production to secure the win.

After yet another to-the-wire victory, the Warriors will enjoy more than a week of rest as they await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals. That could allow Kevin Durant to return to action but, in a four-game sweep against a competitive opponent, Golden State took care of business in a meaningful way.