stephen curry

Casey Holdahl

No one who saw Stephen Curry score an NBA-record 17 points overtime of Golden State's 132-125 victory over the Trail Blazers in Game Four of the Western Conference semifinals Monday night would be surprised to here he was announced as the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second-consecutive season Tuesday morning. What's more, Curry garnered all 131 first-place votes, making him the first unanimous MVP in the history of the award. There's a strong case to be made that the series between the Warriors, a team that set the NBA record for wins in a season this year with 73, and Trail Blazers would be tied at 2-2 were it not for Curry's return from an right MCL sprain, which is just another small piece of evidence as to Curry's status as truly the league's most valuable player.

While Curry had MVP locked up well before the All-Star break, the rest of the ballot was far more unpredictable, with San Antonio's Kawhi Leonard edging out Cleveland's LeBron James for second. The Oklahoma City duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Clippers point guard Chris Paul coming in sixth and Curry's teammate Draymond Green taking seventh.

Then there's Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard, who received one third-place vote, four fourth-place votes and nine fifth-place votes to finish eighth in the final MVP tally. What's perhaps most impressive about Lillard's eighth-place finish is that he did so despite only getting two fifth-place votes from the Portland media. Lillard, the lone returning starter from the 2014-15 team, averaged 25.1 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds in 35.7 minutes per game this season while leading the Trail Blazers to their third-consecutive postseason appearance and just their second playoff series victory in the last 16 years.

Lillard finished ahead of Houston's James Harden and Toronto's Kyle Lowry to round out the top 10 vote-getters. Coincidentally enough, Lillard is the only player to finish in the top 10 in MVP voting who did not make the 2016 All-Star Game. Try to get that right next time, eh fans and NBA head coaches?

While Lillard fell well short of winning MVP, he still has a strong chance of being named to one of the three All-NBA teams, which are typically announced in late-May.

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Lillard Finishes 8th In MVP Voting

Both the Trail Blazers and Warriors are getting good injury news just a few hours before Game Four of their Western Conference semifinal series starts later tonight at the Moda Center (tipoff scheduled for 7:30 pm on TNT and 620 AM).

On the home side, Trail Blazers starting forward Maurice Harkless is listed as probable for Game Four despite suffering a right hip contusion on Game Two. Harkless tried to play through the injury, starting in Portland's Game Three victory on Saturday at the Moda Center. Though he started the game, the 6-9 forward was severely limited and would go on to play less than seven minutes in the win.

But after sitting out most of Game Three and resting on Sunday's off day, Harkless said at Trail Blazers shootaround Monday morning that he was feeling better and optimistic about his chances of playing come Game Four.

"I tried not to do too much on the court but I did some running around, moving around, side to side stuff in the weight room," said Harkless. "It felt pretty good so I’m going to try to do stuff on the court and participate in the whole shootaround, see how I feel."

Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts wouldn't give any indication as to whether Harkless would start Game Four if he is in fact able to play. It's possible either Gerald Henderson or Allen Crabbe, who both saw significant minutes increases in Game Three with Harkless sidelined, could start in Harkless' place even if he's healthy enough to play Monday night.

"I’m going to try to go either way, but I don’t want to be a detriment to the team," said Harkless. "Obviously if I can’t move well enough, I’m sure Coach will take me out."

The situation with the Warriors and Stephen Curry, though improving, is not nearly as cut and dried. Curry, who has been sidelined since straining his right MCL on April 24, has been upgraded to questionable for Game Four, though his availability won't be decided until later Monday afternoon.

"(Curry) went through shootaround and he felt pretty good," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. "We’ll see, he’s going to get treatment again this afternoon."

Kerr said it was possible Curry, the reigning MVP, could come off the bench even if he's available to play in Game Four, as he's only played 39 minutes in Golden State's last eight games between his current MCL and an ankle injury in Game One that kept him out of most of the Warriors' first round series versus the Rockets.

But regardless of if Curry plays, the Trail Blazers say their preparation or game plan doesn't much change.

"We’ve played against them enough times to where we know how we will guard him," said Damian Lillard. "Our approach is the same either way. Coverages change when different guys come into the game, so that wouldn’t be a tough adjustment. We would guard him different than we would guard Shaun Livingston, we would guard (Leandro) Barbosa different than we would guard Livingston. It changes anyway, so when he comes back, we’ll just make that adjustment when he’s in the game. When somebody goes in for him, we’ll go back to what we’ve been doing these first couple games."

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Harkless Probable, Curry Questionable For Game Four

Greetings Trail Blazers podcast enthusiast, and a happy Mother's Day. Despite the pull of spending time with the women who give our lives meaning, Joe Freeman, he of The Oregonian/OregonLive.com, and I, Casey Holdahl of ForwardCenter.net/TrailBlazers.com, broke plans to hit the Moda Center studio to record yet another edition of the Rip City Report podcast less than 12 hours after the Trail Blazers defeated the Warriors 120-108 in Game Three Saturday night. Give it a listen...

On this Mother's Day edition, we discuss Portland's impressive performance in Game Three, particularly the efforts of Damian Lillard and Al-Farouq Aminu, the respective statuses of Stephen Curry and Moe Harkless for Game Four, Terry Stotts' wizardry throughout the playoffs, the perfection of the "Rip City" sleeve jerseys and answer some of your Twitter-submitted questions about Mother’s Day, Draymond Green’s histrionics, Ed Davis' increased playing time and how you should go about talking trash in the bay area. In the immortal words of House Of Pain, word to your moms, we came to drop bombs.

You can find the Rip City Report on Soundcloud, iTunes and Stitcher. Listen to it with your mom, she deserves it.

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Podcast: Rip City Report, Second Round, Game Three Edition

Few thought the Portland Trail Blazers would make the playoffs when the NBA regular season started back in November. And even those who did believe that Portland could overcome significant roster turnover to make the postseason, it's hard to imagine that even they figured the Trail Blazers would still be playing come the beginning of May.

After winning their first round, best-of-seven playoff series 4-2 versus what ended up being a significantly hobbled Los Angeles Clippers squad, the Trail Blazers now advance to the Western Conference semifinals to take on the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors, with Game One scheduled to tip off Sunday at 12:30 pm at Oracle Arena.

As was the case versus the Clippers, Portland's matchup versus Golden State is the first time the two teams will have met in the postseason. The Warriors took the 2015-16 season series 3-1, with their wins coming by an average of 20.3 points. But on the plus side, the Trail Blazers handed Golden State one of their nine losses this season, blowing out the defending champs 137-105 in the first game back from the All-Star break.

And there's also the matter of Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, who is expected to miss at least the first two games of the series with a sprained MCL in his right knee. The reigning MVP, who is expected to win the award again this season, averaged 32.5 points on 54 percent shooting from the field and 53 percent shooting from three, 6.3 assists and 3.8 rebounds versus the Trail Blazers this season, so the fact that he's sitting out at least the first game of the season certainly helps Portland's chances. However, the Warriors still managed to beat the Houston Rockets in the first round with Curry sidelined and the Trail Blazers struggled at times to eliminate a Clippers team playing without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, so even with Curry out, Golden State are still the heavy favorites, especially playing at Oracle Arena, where they've lost just twice during the regular season.

Before the series starts on Sunday, brush up on the matchup by perusing some of the pertinent details of the previous meetings this season

Game One — Sunday, May 1: Trail Blazers vs. Warriors at Oracle Arena, 12:30 pm on ABC, 620 AM and ESPN Radio

Game Two — Tuesday, May 3: Trail Blazers vs. Warriors at Oracle Arena, 7:30 pm on TNT and 620 AM

Game Three — Saturday, May 7: Warriors vs. Trail Blazers at Moda Center, 5:30 pm on ABC and 620 AM

Game Four — Monday, May 9: Warriors vs. Trail Blazers at Moda Center, 7:30 pm on TNT and 620 AM

Game Five* — Wednesday, May 11: Trail Blazers vs. Warriors at Oracle Arena, Time TBD on TNT and 620 AM

Game Six* — Friday, May 13: Warriors vs. Trail Blazers at Moda Center, Time TBD on ESPN and 620 AM

Game Seven* — Monday, May 16: Trail Blazers vs. Warriors at Oracle Arena, 6 pm on TNT and 620 AM

"We thought (the Clippers) was tough without (Chris Paul) and Blake (Griffin), but that’s a championship team. Even without Steph (Curry), they’re still a championship team. We’ve got to keep our mind right, compete and play together. We can’t be worried about who’s not out there because we just watched them beat Houston by 25 twice without Steph. We’ve just got to keep improving on the things we’ve done well and be locked in defensively.

Lillard on how they beat the Warriors during the regular season...

"To beat them we basically had to outscore them. Against a team like that, when you don’t get stops and you let them get rolling, if we weren’t making shots the way we were, we probably would have lost by 30. We can’t let them be that comfortable, as comfortable as they were that night. They’re going to make shots, we can’t be discouraged by that, but every possession matters when you’re playing against a team like that because they always one three away from running off on you. So we’ve just got to be ready for that."

"They pose a lot of problems. Historically speaking, they had a really good year breaking the record for wins, losing one game at home I believe this year, so you know it’s going to be a tough environment. Offensively, even without Steph (Curry), they do a great job of moving the ball. Draymond (Green) is the head of the snake now that Steph’s out, and he moves the ball well. He’s the heart and soul of the team and he gets everybody involved. Klay (Thompson) will be a little bit more aggressive looking to score without Steph and Harrison Barnes and Shaun Livingston and the rest of the guys will be a lot more aggressive too."

"We’re ready for them. Obviously you get so locked in to one team that you have to take a deep breath, step back and start watching the film. They’re the champs, so you’ve got to beat them. They aren’t going to have off nights, they’re going to be locked in and we’re ready for the challenge."

"It’s a big challenge, but we’re up for it. We feel like we can compete with anybody in this league. We’re NBA players just like them. We know it’s going to be a big challenge, but I think it’s going to be exciting for us."

"Obviously they’re a great team, got a lot of pieces. Steph (Curry) is out but it’s still a great team. Without Steph they probably still a boarder line 50-win team. It’s not like they can’t play or whatever, so it’s going to be a tough series for us, so we’re going to take it one game at a time... It’s going to be a tough series, they’re a great team, they’re defending champions, so you know they definitely have a lot to play for. It’s going to be a tough series for us."

"It’s a team we’re familiar with, we played them five times this year including preseason, so we’re familiar with them. There’s no surprises as to what they do well, what they want to do. I don’t know how long Steph will be out — I haven’t actually got to watch them much in the playoffs without him — but it’s a little different with him out there. They still play the same style but having a player like that out… I guess would change things a bit."

PORTLAND: Meyers Leonard is OUT for the series after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder on April 8, 2016.

GOLDEN STATE: Stephen Curry (MCL sprain, right knee) and Kevon Looney (left hip surgery) are OUT for Game One.

Points per game: Trail Blazers 105.1 (6th), Warriors 114.9 (1st)

Points against per game: Trail Blazers 104.3 (20th), Warriors 104.4 (19th)

Point differential: Trail Blazers +0.8 (13th), Warriors +10.8 (1st)

Field goal percentage: Trail Blazers 45 percent (16th), Warriors 49 percent (1st)

Opponent field goal percentage: Trail Blazers 45 percent (16th), Warriors 43 percent (3rd)

Three-point field goal percentage: Trail Blazers 37 percent (4th), Warriors 42 percent (1st)

True shooting percentage: Trail Blazers 55 percent (10th), Warriors 59 percent (1st)

Rebounds per game: Trail Blazers 45.5 (5th), Warriors 46.2 (4th)

Offensive rebounds per game: Trail Blazers 11.6 (3rd), Warriors 10.0 (20th)

Rebound differential: Trail Blazers +1.8 (10th), Warriors +2.3 (8th)

Rebound percentage: Trail Blazers 51 percent (10th), Warriors 51 percent (8th)

Assists per game: Portland 21.3 (21st), Warriors 28.9 (1st)

Turnovers per game: Trail Blazers 14.1 (17th), Warriors 14.9 (25th)

Pace: Trail Blazers 98.31 (12th), Warriors 101.6 (2nd)

Offensive rating: Trail Blazers 106.1 (7th), Warriors 112.5 (1st)

Defensive rating: Trail Blazers 105.6 (20th), Warriors 100.9 (5th)

Net rating: Trail Blazers +0.6 (14th), Warriors +11.6 (2nd)

• October 9, 2015: Trail Blazers 118, Warriors 101 (preseason)

While it’s foolhardy to draw too many conclusions from two games, it’s hard not to get a little excited about how the Trail Blazers have fared during the preseason, particularly on the offensive end, after their performance Thursday night against the defending NBA champs.

Thanks to the Allen Crabbe’s shot, Damian Lillard’s ability to get to the free throw line, a yeoman debut performance from Al-Farouq Aminu and quality contributions up and down the roster, the Portland Trail Blazers got their first win of the preseason Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors with an impressive 118-101 victory in front of 19,303 at the Moda Center.

“It was a positive night,” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “I was pleased with the way we played. Obviously scoring 77 in the first half, I didn’t see that coming but I really liked the tempo of the game. I liked how we were getting our shots, we were moving the ball. Both halves were completely different. It was up and down first half and much more of a defensive game in the second half. I thought we had a lot of good performances. Obviously (Crabbe) had a night and that was good to see the rhythm. I thought for the most part offensively we helped each other get shots and that helps the ball go in a little bit.”

• January 8: Warriors 128, Trail Blazers 109

The Portland Trail Blazers had their entire squad available for Friday night’s game against the defending NBA Champion Golden State at the Moda Center. There were no injuries, no illnesses, no suspensions and no clerical errors to speak of, making Friday’s contest one of the first this season in which Terry Stotts had the entirety of the roster at his disposal.

It didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

The Warriors, as they’ve done more often than not to their competition this season, dominated the Trail Blazers whenever they seemed to put their minds to it and eventually came away with a wire-to-wire 128-108 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 20,035, many of whom came to support the road team.

“Well, it was pretty obvious Golden State’s a pretty good basketball team,” said Stotts. “They showed why they have the record they have. They shot the ball really well, they passed — 36 assists. I think one of the things they do best is their passing and their shooting sets up a lot of their passing, obviously. They’re a good team.”

• February 19: Trail Blazers 137, Warriors 105

The Portland Trail Blazers entered the All-Star break playing their best basketball of the season, so there might have been some concern that a week off might have threatened their momentum.

But as Damian Lillard often says these days, don’t let that worry you.

Despite playing the Golden State Warriors, a juggernaut of a team that had lost just four games this season going into Friday night’s game, the Trail Blazers picked up right where they left off, blowing out the defending champs 137-105 in front of a sellout crowd at the Moda Center.

“It’s an understatement: we played very well,” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “I like the way we kept our composure. Offensively, we were terrific all night moving the ball. Dame had it going early, had it going late. After giving up some easy baskets in the fist quarter, I thought our defense was pretty solid the rest of the night. It was a great way to start after the break.”

• March 11, 2016: Warriors 128, Trail Blazers 112

The Portland Trail Blazers set out to do two things that no other NBA team had done this season: defeat the Golden State Warriors twice and hand the defending NBA champions their first loss on their home court since 2015.

The Warriors built a 15-point lead in the first quarter, which they extended to 23 in the second quarter on the way to scoring 81 points in the first half to eventually beat the Trail Blazers 128-112 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596 at Oracle Arena Friday night in Oakland.

“They’re a championship team and they played like it,” said Damian Lillard. “I thought we came out and we had a pretty decent start. They’re great shooters, they see the ball go in and there’s not a whole lot you can do after that… They played a much better game than we did.”

• April 9, Warriors 136, Trail Blazers 111

On Friday, the Boston Celtics, a day after losing to the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center, became the first team this season to beat the Golden State Warriors on their home court this season, proving that the reigning NBA champions were not actually invincible at Oracle Arena.

But while that might be good news for the rest of the league, it didn’t do the Trail Blazers any favors Sunday afternoon in Oakland. Behind yet another ridiculous shooting night from reigning MVP Stephen Curry, a Warriors team determined to avoid suffering consecutive home losses for the first time since January 2014 bested the Trail Blazers 136-111 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596.

“We played much better than we did last time (in Oakland),” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “They jumped on us early and we were never really in the game the last time. At least this game we were competitive for two, almost three quarters. It’s hard to look at the score and feel that, but we certainly played better than last time.”

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Trail Blazers Versus Warriors: A Second Round Playoff Overview

OAKLAND -- The Portland Trail Blazers set out to do two things that no other NBA team had done this season: defeat the Golden State Warriors twice and hand the defending NBA champions their first loss on their home court since 2015.

"They're a championship team and they played like it," said Damian Lillard. "I thought we came out and we had a pretty decent start. They're great shooters, they see the ball go in and there's not a whole lot you can do after that... They played a much better game than we did."

The Trail Blazers are now 34-32 overall and 14-20 on the road this season. Despite the loss, Portland remains in sixth place in the Western Conference standings, though their lead over the Houston Rockets, who defeated the Boston Celtics earlier in the evening, was cut to half a game.

While it's hard to imagine that any team is enthusiastic about their chances of defeating an opponent that has lost just six times through 63 games and are a perfect 28-0 playing at home, the Trail Blazers had some cause for optimism. Portland handed Golden State their worst loss of the season --a 137-105 drubbing the first game after the All-Star break --  in the last meeting between the two teams at the Moda Center, Oakland native Damian Lillard was on the best scoring run of his career and Terry Stotts had two days off to get his team ready for the challenge.

But none of that mattered once the ball was tipped at Oracle, as reigning MVP Stephen Curry and his backcourt partner Klay Thompson came out hitting from any and everywhere on the court. The "Splash Brothers" each scored 23 points in the first half, with Thompson hitting 7-of-9 three-pointers and and Curry going 9-of-15 from the field. The result was the Warriors scoring 81 points in the first half, the most points they've scored in any half this season, and taking a 20-point lead into the intermission.

"There's probably somebody tonight that had 81 (points) in a whole game," said Lillard. "Especially against a team like them, you let them score 81 points in one half and they get to feeling good about themselves, it's going to be that much harder to stop them in the second."

Golden State, perhaps motivated to try and beat the Trail Blazers as badly as they had been beaten in the previous matchup, extended their lead to 32 in the third quarter before Portland's bench made the requisite "comeback" to cut the final deficit to a somewhat respectable 16.

While the Trail Blazers were unable to make history on their own by ending the longest home win streak in NBA history, they did combine with the Warriors to set the record for most made three-pointers in a game with 37. And with four three-pointers, Lillard set the record for most made three-pointers through four seasons with 785, which is now one more than the previous record-holder, Klay Thompson.

The Blazers had seven players finish in double figures led by CJ McCollum, who went 6-of-19 from the field for 18 points, three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Lillard struggled from the field, finishing the night 5-of-19, to end the night with 17 points and five assists in 30 minutes.

Gerald Henderson went 4-of-5 from the field in the first quarter and finished with 12 points and two assists in 13 minutes. Allen Crabbe added 11 and Meyers Leonard put up a double-double of 10 points, 13 rebounds in 27 minutes. Mason Plumlee fell a rebound short of a double-double of his own, finishing with 10 points and nine boards in 18 minutes. Brian Roberts, who led Portland's fourth-quarter rally, added with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Thompson led all scorers with 37 points on 13-of-22 shooting in 31 minutes. Curry went 13-of-23 from the field and 7-of-14 from three for 34 points to go with four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes.

"They were very aggressive moving without the ball, they made some tough shots," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts of Golden State's starting backcourt duo. "They kept moving, we lost them and they were able to knock 'em down. Their three-point shooting, obviously, was the big thing in the first half."

Draymond Green finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists and Andre Igoudala added 8 points off the bench.

Next up, the Trail Blazers return to the Moda Center to host the Orlando Magic in the second night of a back-to-back.

"We'll check out what we can do better tomorrow on the film and what we did well and just bounce back against Orlando," said Leonard. "That's the main thing right now, Orlando. This game is over with, Orlando is huge for us tomorrow night."

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Blazers Join The Rest Of The League In Losing To The Warriors At Oracle

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