The Warriors ended the game on a 14-3 run to steal a 114-111 victory over the Trail Blazers on Thursday night. With the win, the Dubs take a 2-0 series lead with Game 3 coming up in Portland on Saturday.
The Warriors erased an eight-point deficit over the final four minutes and change and squeaked out a 114-111 victory over the Trail Blazers on Thursday night at Oracle Arena. With the win, the Dubs take a 2-0 series lead with Game 3 coming up on Saturday in Portland.
Stephen Curry led the Dubs with 37 points and eight assists, and his assist to Draymond Green put the Dubs up by three with 12.3 seconds left. Portland had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but Andre Iguodala disrupted a Damian Lillard 3-point attempt and the Dubs secured possession and the game as time expired on a thrilling night at Oracle Arena.
While the Dubs took control of Game 1 with a dominant fourth quarter, Thursday’s down-to-the-wire finish had far more dramatics. There were four lead changes and two ties in the fourth quarter, including three lead changes in the final 2:01 of the game. Kevon Looney put the Dubs ahead for good when he finished off an alley-oop from Draymond Green with a dunk with 52.9 seconds left, part of a game-closing 14-3 run for the Dubs.
"We stole that game," Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought they outplayed us for much of the night, the majority of the night, but we brought enough competitive fire in the second half to overcome their great play ... We've been here before. I think our experience helped us. We've done this a few times, and yeah, we stole it for sure."
TEAM LEADERS
That dunk closed out a perfect 6-for-6 night for Looney, who finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench for the Dubs. Jordan Bell also had a big night off the bench for the Dubs, scoring a playoff career-best 11 points in 14 minutes.
That the Dubs had a chance to win this one had a lot to do with their third quarter effort. They trailed by as many as 17 points in the game but rallied behind the Splash Brothers after the break. Curry scored the team’s first eight points of the second half and Klay Thompson got hot with 13 points in the period. The Dubs looked to be in complete control when Alfonzo McKinnie hit a 3-pointer in front of the Warriors bench that punctuated a 34-13 run and put the Dubs up by five.
But Lillard answered right back with a three of his own, the start of a seven-point spurt in the final 1:13 of the quarter for the Oakland native, and the teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 89-89.
Portland jumped back in front at the start of the period behind some stellar 3-point shooting from their reserves. The Blazers made 18 3-pointers on the night, and Seth Curry made three of his four treys in the fourth quarter, and Meyers Leonard hit one that looked to have the Dubs on the ropes, as Portland led by eight with 4:28 left in the game.
But the Dubs proved to have one more run in them, and Draymond Green was all over it. After starting the game with six points and four blocks in the opening quarter, Green’s foul trouble slowed his progress until the Dubs needed him most. He started the game-ending run by getting a bucket off of a drive from the top of the key, and he would score or assist the Dubs’ final five buckets of the night, finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks, the last of which came during the Dubs game-ending run.
"His play, his defensive play down the stretch, and Andre's [Iguodala] play at the end there, just fantastic stuff," Kerr said. "That's what it takes in the playoffs, you have to have guys playing at a really high level. Obviously Steph was brilliant and [Kevon] Looney was brilliant and we got the defensive effort that we needed down the stretch."
Winners of four consecutive games – matching their longest streak of the postseason – the Dubs take their 2-0 series advantage to Portland for Game 3 on Saturday.
More notes and numbers from the Dubs' Game 2 win:
- Golden State improved to 15-4 in Game 2 dating back to the 2015 postseason… The Warriors are 37-33 all-time in Game 2… Golden State is 10-4 overall this postseason.
- The Warriors are 10-1 vs. the Trail Blazers over their last three postseason series, including the last eight-straight.
- Golden State has won four-straight games, matching the longest winning streak of the current postseason… The Warriors have won five-straight home contests and 25 of their last 28 postseason games played at Oracle Arena.
- Tonight tied Golden State’s third-largest postseason comeback dating back to 2015… The largest comeback over that span was a 25-point comeback on May 14, 2017 vs. San Antonio… This marked Golden State’s second double-digit comeback of the current postseason.
- The Warriors have shot 50 percent-or-better from the field in back-to-back games… They had not recorded a game of 50 percent-or-better from the field prior to the Western Conference Finals.
- Golden State grabbed 50-plus rebounds for the third time this postseason (3-0 in those games).
The Warriors dished out 30-plus assists (30) for the seventh time this postseason (5-2 in those games), including both games of the Western Conference Finals. - Golden State’s 39 third-quarter points were the most it has scored in a third quarter this postseason.
- Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 61 points and the Warriors are now 4-0 this postseason when they combine for 60-or-more.
- With a capacity crowd of 19,596, Golden State recorded its 340th consecutive sellout (regular season and playoffs), the longest streak in franchise history.
- Stephen Curry recorded a game-high 37 points (one shy of his postseason-high of 38, scored on April 13 vs. the Clippers) his fifth outing of 30-or-more points this postseason… The Warriors improved to 31-4 in the postseason when Curry scores 30-plus points... He extended his NBA-record streak of consecutive postseason games with a made three (104)… Curry dished out a postseason-high tying eight assists.
- Draymond Green tallied four blocks in the first quarter, the most blocked shots in any quarter of his postseason career finishing with a 2019 postseason-high five blocks… This marked his seventh-straight game recording 10-or-more rebounds (10), setting a new postseason-career high streak… He added 16 points (8-of-12 FG), his 10th outing of 10-plus this postseason to go with seven assists.
- Kevon Looney scored a Warriors reserve high 14 points on 6-of-6 from the field, adding seven rebounds in 29 minutes.
- Jordan Bell posted a career postseason-high 11 points… His previous high was 10 points on June 6, 2018 at Cleveland… Prior to tonight, Bell had scored 11 points in the 2019 postseason.