Splash! Warriors Are Back in Conference Finals

12 May, 2016

The Warriors have advanced to the Western Conference Finals after eliminating the Trail Blazers with a 125-121 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Klay Thompson was brilliant, leading all scorers with 33 points. Stephen Curry notched a double-double with 29 points and 11 assists, while Draymond Green stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Golden State now advances to the Conference Finals for the second consecutive year, where they will await the victor of the ongoing series between the Spurs and Thunder.

For the third time in five games, the Warriors erased an early double-digit deficit to hand the Trail Blazers a frustrating loss. The only difference this time was that it ended Portland’s season. Facing elimination, the young Trail Blazers opened the game with the kind of intensity and aggressiveness you’d expect from a squad playing for their playoff lives. But as the night wore on, the veteran Warriors slowly gained momentum, and turned the tables on the Trail Blazers in the final quarter to close out the series.

With the two sides deadlocked at 8-8 just over three minutes into the game, Portland seized control with a 10-0 run, putting Golden State in yet another early hole. They’d climb out of it soon after, though, and Andre Iguodala seemed to be the catalyst for their ascent. Once he entered the game with 5:47 left in the opening quarter, the Warriors immediately went on an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the night at 21-20. The two sides would play it fairly even through the rest of the frame, as the first of Allen Crabbe’s five three-pointers found the bottom of the net with 38.3 seconds remaining and sent the Trail Blazers into the second quarter holding a slim 30-27 advantage.

Eight-straight points from Al-Farouq Aminu would build Portland’s lead back to double-digits halfway through the second frame, but once again they proved unable in extending that even further, allowing Golden State to hang around. After Damian Lillard scored five consecutive points to put the Trail Blazers up 56-47 with 2:55 left in the half, the Warriors would outscore Portland 11-5 to cut it to a single possession game with 33.9 seconds remaining. Lillard would add two more free throws in the final seconds to win the quarter for Portland and send Golden State into halftime trailing 63-58.

After accounting for 13 points in the second frame, Klay Thompson carried his hot hand into the second half. He’d score five-straight points for Golden State to trim the deficit to a single point before Curry put the Dubs in front 75-73 with a three-pointer exactly five minutes into the quarter. Then, following a 5-0 Portland burst, Thompson would go on to score the next eight points for the Warriors, culminating with his fifth three-pointer of the night to pull within 84-83 with 3:40 left in the frame. That constituted Thompson’s seventh-straight game with at least five treys, establishing a new NBA playoff record. He’d add one final three-pointer to bring his total to 16 points in the quarter and tie the game up 90-90 before giving way to the man of the night in Curry. After receiving his second consecutive MVP award prior to the contest, Curry brought the Oracle crowd to its feet with a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left, giving Golden State a 93-91 lead heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Shaun Livingston would score the opening basket of the fourth frame to momentarily extend the Warriors’ advantage, but five-straight Portland points in response put the Trail Blazers back in front 96-95 with 10:45 remaining in the game. However, that would prove to be Portland’s final lead of the game, series and season, as the Warriors would soon jump back in front and hold the Trail Blazers off the rest of the way. Curry followed a Livingston jumper with a floating jump shot to give the Dubs some breathing room, and his stepback jumper with 5:35 remaining gave the Warriors their largest lead of the entire night at 110-102. Portland wouldn’t go away quietly, however.

The Trail Blazers would respond with a 7-0 burst to pull within a single point with just over four minutes left to play. Then, after back-to-back three-pointers from Iguodala and Curry, Portland put their resiliency on display once more, using a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 118-116 with 1:21 remaining in regulation. But, the man of the night wouldn’t be denied, as Curry’s dagger three-pointer with 24.9 seconds left rebuilt Golden State’s cushion and simultaneously pushed Portland to the brink. Four more free throws from Curry and some great team defense closed out not only the 125-121 victory, but the series as well.

NBA.com

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