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 Klay Thompson bombed in a game-high 37 points and Draymond Green
recorded his second career postseason triple-double as the Warriors
ran off early from the Portland Trail Blazers en route to a 118-106
victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference semi-finals on Sunday.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Tuesday in
Oakland.
Even without Curry, who is sidelined due to a sprained medial
collateral ligament in his right knee, the Warriors ran up 118
points on 47.3 percent shooting against a team less than 48 hours
removed from having closed out a Round 1 win over the Los Angeles
Clippers.
"It helped us to have to play most of the Houston series without
Steph," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
"We just got into a good groove (in the final two games against
Houston), and that carried over to tonight. Our guys have an
understanding of how we have to play without Steph."
Thompson hit a 3-pointer just 17 seconds into the game, and the
Warriors never looked back, building early 14-4 and 22-7 leads en
route to their seventh consecutive win in Game 1 of a playoff
series.
Hitting four 3-pointers, Thompson poured in 18 of his 37 points in
the first quarter, during which he singlehandedly outscored the
Trail Blazers 18-17.
 Seven Warriors team mates quickly got into the scoring act as well,
as Golden State outshot Portland 60 percent to 23.8 in the first
quarter while building a 37-17 lead.
"I was in a great zone," Thompson said of his fast start. "I got a
couple of good looks. Anytime you get a 3-ball in the corner, it's
not a hard shot."
Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard missed five of his six shots in
the period, and high-scoring sidekick CJ McCollum shot 0-for-2.
Lillard eventually rebounded to score 30 points, but they were too
little, too late.
"We've just got to understand that they are a good first-quarter
team," Lillard said of the Warriors. "We've got to be better from
the start of the game. Once we fix that, we'll have a chance."
The Trail Blazers were never closer than nine after the first period
and wound up losing Game 1 on the road for the second consecutive
series.
In fact, Portland got blown out by 20 and 21 points in their first
two games against the Clippers before rallying to win four straight,
something Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts mentioned to his team
afterward.
"We made adjustments, we played a little bit better and we got
better as the series went along," Stotts said of the response to the
early adversity against the Clippers. "We need to do the same
thing."
It appears duplicating that feat against Golden State, even without
Curry, will not be as easy.
After being outplayed in the second quarter, the Warriors started
the second half the same way they began the first, getting five
points from Green and a 3-pointer from Thompson in a 12-4 burst that
turned a 14-point game at the intermission into a 77-55 contest.
This time, the Trail Blazers never seriously challenged, and in fact
fell behind by as many as 26 before the end of the third quarter.
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"We're missing 30 points a game," Warriors defensive anchor Andrew
Bogut said of Curry's absence.
"If we commit defensively to the game play and have a lot of effort
defensively, it takes pressure off our offense and gives us a chance
to win ballgames."
Thompson's career-best postseason scoring effort came on 14-for-28
shooting, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range.
He also had the primary coverage on Lillard, who shot just 8-for-26.
"There are not many guys in the league who could chase Damian
Lillard around for 37 minutes and score 37 points, too," the
Warriors' Kerr said. "(Thompson) was awesome."
Green's triple-double consisted of 23 points, 13 rebounds and 11
assists in 37 minutes. He also had a triple-double in
championship-clinching Game 6 of last year's NBA Finals.
Bogut (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Harrison Barnes (10 points, 12
rebounds) recorded double-doubles for the Warriors, and Shaun
Livingston, starting in place of Curry, contributed 12 points and
six assists to the win.
With all three members of their starting frontcourt recording at
least 12 rebounds, the Warriors dominated the Trail Blazers on the
boards to the tune of 55-40.
Lillard hit all 10 of his foul shots and four of his eight 3-point
attempts to account for a majority of his 30 points.
More important, though, he and McCollum combined to miss 30 of their
43 shots.
"It's huge for us," Lillard responded when asked if he and McCollum
needed to play better moving forward.
"We score a lot of points for the team. That gives us our best
chance to win games, especially against a team that can fill it up
like them, We've just got to be better."
Reserves Allen Crabbe (15 points) and Ed Davis (11 points, seven
rebounds) were productive for the Trail Blazers, helping keep the
final score respectable on a day when Portland's five starters
combined to shoot 23-for-75.
Al-Farouq Aminu added 15 points and Moe Harkless 10 for the Trail
Blazers, who shot 40.2 percent.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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