Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors Match Player Stats On Apr 16, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Apr 16, 2017

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Backup point guard Ian Clark contributed seven points to a 15-2 flurry at the start of the fourth quarter Sunday, as the Golden State Warriors ran off from a tie to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 121-109 in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven is scheduled for Wednesday night in Oakland.

The eighth-seeded Trail Blazers never trailed by more than eight points in the first three quarters and used a three-point play by backup Pat Connaughton in the final seconds of the third period to draw even at 88-88.

But with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the bench, the Warriors turned up the defensive heat to start the final quarter and got a surprise contribution from Clark in a game-breaking burst.

While Portland was missing 10 of its 11 shots over a nearly 4 1/2-minute stretch, Clark hit a 3-pointer, a follow shot and two free throws. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green added four points apiece to complete the 15-2 burst that produced a 103-90 advantage.

CJ McCollum, the game's leading scorer with 41 points, stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark, and Damian Lillard converted a drive 29 seconds later to get Portland back in the game.

When Evan Turner followed another McCollum hoop with two free throws, suddenly the Trail Blazers were back within 105-99 with still 5:16 to go.

But Green tipped in a Curry miss and Durant followed with three consecutive hoops, opening Golden State's biggest lead of the game, 113-99, with 3:36 to go.

Durant, playing his first postseason game for the Warriors, led Golden State with 32 points. He hit 12 of his 20 shots and also had 10 rebounds.

Curry chipped in with 29 points, including three 3-pointers, while Green had a productive all-around game with 19 points to go with game highs in rebounds (12), assists (nine), blocked shots (five) and steals (three).

Clark finished with 12 points for the Warriors, who have beaten the Trail Blazers in 11 of their last 12 meetings, including their 4-1 triumph in last year's Western semifinals.

McCollum's 41 points came on 16-of-28 shooting overall and 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.

Lillard connected on 12 of his 26 shots during a 34-point performance for the Trail Blazers, who have faced the No. 1 seed in the Western playoffs for the third time in the last four years.

NOTES: Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts was noncommittal before the opener on the Game 2 status of injured C Jusuf Nuskic (broken right leg), saying only, "Hopefully he'll be back at some point during the series." ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr took the same approach with his injured player, F Matt Barnes (sprained right foot), noting, "We'll see how it goes for Wednesday." ... The Trail Blazers are 3-30 in playoff series when losing the first game. ... Warriors G Stephen Curry continued his streak of having scored in double figures in all of his postseason games, doing it for the 59th straight time. ... Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard has scored in double figures in all 28 of his postseason games.