Portland Trail Blazers 94-116 Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors continue to not miss Kevin Durant all that much. Despite the absence of their injured superstar, the defending champions blew out the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Just like in Game 6 of their series against the Houston Rockets, the Splash Brothers — Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — were once again spectacular as they completely outduelled their Blazers counterparts.
The NBA 2019 odds were stacked heavily against the Blazers before the series began. And if Game 1 was any indication, it appears the Warriors may not have to work too hard to make it to a fifth straight NBA Finals.
Highlights of the game
It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Blazers in Game 1. They had only a couple of days off to rest and prepare following a gruelling seven-game war against the Denver Nuggets in the previous round. Meanwhile, a slightly better-rested Warriors team was waiting to greet them at Oracle.
But to the Blazers’ credit, they came out of the gates strong as they were able to keep the Warriors within arm’s length. Portland managed to prevent Golden State from building a big double-digit lead in the first half and went into the break down by just nine points.
However, Curry hit three consecutive shots — including two 3-pointers — in the final minute of the second quarter and carried over his hot shooting to the second half.
Curry went on to hit four more triples in the third as the Warriors finally began to break the game open. Thanks in part to Curry’s 3-point barrage, the Warriors were able to open up a 17-point lead midway through the third.
Again, though, Portland responded as they pulled the lead back down to six entering the fourth. But that was just about as close as they would get as the Warriors just had too much in the end. After Curry did most of the damage in the third, Thompson helped ice the game with 12 points in the fourth.
Key statistics
Curry once again had it cooking without Durant as he had a team-high 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting and 9-of-15 from beyond the arc. Curry has now scored 30 or more points in three of his last four playoff games.
Thompson is also in the midst of his best stretch of these playoffs, scoring at least 26 points in three straight outings.
The Splash Brothers combined to go 12-of-24 from beyond the arc as the Warriors went a sizzling 17-of-33 (51 per cent) as a team.
The Blazers’ backcourt was nowhere near as effective as Lillard and McCollum combined to go just 11-of-31 from the field. The Blazers shot a subpar 36 per cent as a team and 7-of-28 on 3-pointers.
Lillard, who went 4-of-12, has been unable to supply the big-time heroics that he’s capable of in recent games. He had his second straight poor shooting night after his disastrous 3-of-17 effort in Game 7 against the Nuggets.
On the bright side for the Blazers, Mo Harkless broke out for 17 points after scoring 17 points in the last four games of the Denver series. Although, he had his big game in part because the Warriors defence decided to help off him to keep Lillard and McCollum quiet.
Rodney Hood also didn’t look too hampered by the knee injury which was big NBA 2019 news heading into Game 1 as he had 17 points off the Blazers’ bench.
What’s next?
Unfortunately for the Blazers, Game 1 might be a sign that the Dubs’ recent dominance over them in the playoffs looks set to continue. Despite Durant’s absence, the Warriors just seem like the superior team in every way. And if Durant can make it back in this series soon, the Blazers will be in even more trouble.
Curry appears to have shaken off his shooting struggles early in the Rockets series. And with Enes Kanter a significant liability on defence, the Blazers don’t have a particularly good plan to stop the Curry pick-and-rolls.
Portland simply need much better production from their two stars, Lillard and McCollum. That’s obviously going to be much easier said than done given how great Golden State’s defence is, but that’s just the reality.
On top of that, the Blazers also need to hope for similar production from Harkless and Hood going forward. Kanter is clearly not capable of being a consistent third scorer given his shoulder injury, which is why the Blazers need offence from other places moving forward.
If things don’t improve significantly for the Blazers, SBOBET NBA fans likely won’t get to see much of a competitive series in the Western Conference Finals.
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