May 17, 2019 – Last night’s game took a halftime comeback from the Warriors offense and an amazing attack on defense from Draymond Green and Kevon Looney to beat the Blazers in Oracle.
The Blazers started the game strong and played terrific defense against the Warriors in the first half. They double-teamed Stephen Curry (37 points, eight assists, eight rebounds) and Klay Thompson (24 points), and forced them to take difficult shots. Curry and Thompson both had some clutch threes, but it wasn’t enough to come back from a 15 point deficit. Damian Lillard (23 points, 10 assists, five rebound) hit a deep three with two minutes left in the second and I tweeted ‘we need to play better!’
The Warriors were damn aggressive on defense in the second half! Looney (14 points, seven rebound) and Green (16 points, five blocks, 10 rebounds) swatted loose balls up in the air, which allowed Curry to take open shots. The Warriors held up to their well-known third quarter comeback: they stepped up their defense, rebounds and created space. They came back and tied the score at 89 by the end of the third.
It was apparent that the Blazers eased up defensively, which is not something you want to do when you A) have a lead and B) have a hot Steph Curry. Warriors constantly did this in the regular season, so I understood the irritated vibes from fans.
Seth Curry (16 points, four steals) played some hard ball against his older brother and it was fun to watch as a fan. I saw Sonya get excited in the stands for her two sons, “she’s blessed,” as Steph said in the post-game interview with Doris.
Blazers continued to be trapped at a point where Curry had the ball, either at the top of the arc or under the basket, and two defenders would guard him. Thanks to him pulling up two defenders, another shooter was open for an easy dunk or perimeter shot. This game was definitely a team effort for the Warriors. They played the vintage Warrior way by continuously passing the ball and created a great rhythm on the court.
Next game in Portland may be different audience wise, but it is pretty loud and clear that Curry wants another trip to the series bad and he will do whatever it takes to get the team there.
thesportsnote 