PORTLAND -- For four quarters, the Portland Trail Blazers did a good job of keeping Golden State Warriors point guard and reigning MVP Stephen Curry in check. Sure, he had 23 points in 31 minutes in his first game back after suffering a sprained MCL in his right leg roughly two weeks ago, shot just 10-of-25 from the field and 2-of-13 from three.
But Game Four went more than four quarters, which provided Curry five extra minutes to put on the kind of show the NBA has come to expect from the Golden State point guard. And in that extra time, Curry scored an NBA-record 17 points, four more than the Trail Blazers combined, to lift the defending champs to a 132-125 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,583 at the Moda Center Monday night.
"Remarkable," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts of Curry's performance. "He looked fresh, he had his rhythm. He made tough shots, he made nice passes, he fought through screens. Obviously 17 points in overtime, it was a hell of a performance."
The Warriors now lead the series 3-1 with Game Five scheduled for Wednesday in Oakland.
The Trail Blazers build an early 16-point lead and scored a franchise playoff record 41-points in the second quarter, resulting in a 67-57 halftime lead. But an 11-2 run late in the third gave Golden State their first lead of the game, though both teams would take turns snatching the lead away for the rest of the contest.
"We jumped out," said Damian Lillard. "We had a great start to the game. I thought we controlled the game for the most part, but against a team like them, they're going to make runs, they're going to make shots. They stick to their principles defensively, they're going to disrupt some things. But I thought even with the things that they did on offense, when they made runs, we always answered."
After seven lead changes in the fourth quarter, Portland led 111-108 with just under a minute to play in regulation. But a wide-open Harrison Barnes three after a timeout with 51.9 seconds to play in regulation would tie the game on what would be the last score before the game went to overtime.
"It was a well-played game," said Stotts. "Both teams really competed hard, made great shot making, some hard fought defense and we just didn't have enough at the end of regulation."
And from there, it was all Curry. Though he was supposed to play only 24 minutes while working his way back into the lineup, the soon-to-be two-time MVP had to play extended minutes after Shaun Livingston, who started at point guard for the Warriors, was ejected for arguing with referee Scott Foster in the first half. Undermanned at guard, Steve Kerr had no choice but to play Curry almost 37 minutes, which turned out to be the difference.
"(Curry) had a great performance," said Lillard. "He's been great all season. He's the MVP again for a reason. He's been out two weeks and the kind of player he is, I'm sure he hasn't been sitting around. He was a bit rusty in the first half, but the second half we had some blown coverages and miscommunications and we allowed him to come off and get wide open shots. And then he got going. With a player like him, they see a couple go in, he's going to start bouncing around and feeling himself and that's just what happened."
The Trail Blazers were led by Lillard, who went 9-of-30 from the field, 5-of-18 from three and 13-of-16 from the free throw line for 36 points and 10 assists in over 46 minutes. CJ McCollum added 24 points while Al-Farouq Aminu put up a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds in 39 minutes. Mason Plumlee also had a double-double with 12 points, 15 rebounds and Allen Crabbe scored 13 off the bench.
Curry finished with 40 points on 16-of-32 shooting from the field and 5-of-16 shooting from three, nine rebounds and eight assists in the winning effort.
"The guy's played basically one basketball game in three weeks," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr of Curry. "I expected what I saw early, I expected a lot of rust. I don't think anyone could'vs predicted the explosion. I figured that he'd find his stroke and make a few shots, but I mean, that was crazy."
Klay Thompson overcame a slow start to finish with 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting in 42 minutes. Draymond Green added 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 44 minutes.
Next up, the Trail Blazers face their first elimination game of the 2016 Playoffs Wednesday night at Oracle Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.