The Sports Xchange
Apr 25, 2017
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Stephen Curry scored 37 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed seven rebounds despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the Golden State Warriors buried the Portland Trail Blazers 128-103 Monday night at Moda Center to complete a four-game series sweep.
Draymond Green scored 21 points for the Warriors, whose second-round Western Conference playoff opponent will be the Utah Jazz or the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kevin Durant returned to the Warriors' lineup after missing two games with a left calf injury, and he scored 10 points and hit both his 3-point attempts in just 20 minutes of action.
Damian Lillard scored 34 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added 25 for the Trail Blazers.
Six players scored in double figures for the Warriors, who shot 53.5 percent from the field, including 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) from 3-point range.
Curry scored 21 points and Thompson added 16 as Golden State carried a 72-48 advantage into halftime. The Warriors shot 58.1 percent through the break. Lillard had 21 points and his teammates a collective 27 in the half.
Golden State scored the first six points of the third quarter to forge a 78-48 lead. The Warriors increased the edge to 91-58 on a Curry 3-pointer with seven minutes left in the third quarter.
Portland got no closer than 23 points the rest of the way.
Golden State jumped to a 14-0 lead in the game's first three minutes. Curry's 3-point shot made it 28-5 six minutes in. Portland started 1 of 11 from the field; the Warriors hit 12 of their first 14 attempts.
The Warriors hiked the difference to 41-13 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter. It was 45-22 after one quarter. The Blazers, with Lillard scoring 10 straight points, cut it to 49-32 early in the second quarter. The Warriors stoked the margin to 24 points at intermission.
NOTES: Golden State's 45 points tied the NBA record for the most points scored in the first quarter of a playoff game. The Warriors were also four shy of the franchise playoff single-quarter record. The Warriors scored 49 in the fourth quarter against San Antonio in 1991. ... The Warriors have won 17 of 19 meetings with the Trail Blazers, including postseason, over the past three seasons. ... Portland G CJ McCollum, who averaged 28 points in the first three games of the series, went scoreless on 0-of-9 shooting in the first half. He didn't hit his first field goal until early in the fourth quarter, and he wound up with six points. ... Warrior coach Steve Kerr, still ailing from the effects of back problems, watched the game on television from the team's locker room. He had stayed behind at the team hotel for Game 3.