PORTLAND — So now it's a series. Isn't it?
Damian Lillard and his Blazers woke up from their recent fourth-quarter nightmare in Oakland to beat Golden State 120-108 in Game 3 Saturday and bring themselves within one more homecourt win of evening this conference semifinal. But Draymond Green didn't sound as if it was going to come to that when Portland and his Warriors reconvene on Monday.
"I felt like I was horrendous on the defensive end,'' said Green, who appeared to be unimpressed by his 37 points. "We'll be better there, I'll be better and we'll win.''
The defending champions earned an NBA-record 73 wins and have been dominating the postseason with and without MVP Stephen Curry. And yet the truth of their success emerged after Portland became the only opponent to beat the Warriors twice this season. Golden State's advantage became more obvious than ever after Green had gone 8-for-12 from the 3-point line while filling out his exquisite line with 8 assists, 9 rebounds and a blocked shot. As a team leader, he held himself in contempt.
"All of that is cute,'' he said of his stats. The reason they didn't result in a victory was because, according to Green, he didn't manufacture the intensity that would have snuffed out the Blazers in the opening half. "I put it on me because that's what I do,'' Green went on. "I got to bring that sense of urgency for us and I didn't do that from the start. I know we need to be better in that department and that falls on my shoulders.''
They felt like they were on the ropes, and we didn't take advantage of it.
– Draymond Green on Game 3
Across the way there were the playoff-high 40 points from Lillard, which fulfilled the leadership that his Blazers needed from him. In the fourth quarter of Game 2 he had gone scoreless, enabling the Warriors to recover from an 11-point deficit. "There was no question in my mind he was going to have a really good game,'' said Portland coach Terry Stotts of Lillard's response. "That's how he's built.''
The Blazers did all sorts of things to their liking, but the immediate future of this series will not simply boil down to a test of wills between Green and Lillard. For Curry could be coming back as soon as Game 4. The plan was for him to go 3-on-3 at practice on Sunday and "see how he does,'' said coach Steve Kerr.
If Curry had been able to join in with Green (13 of 23 overall) and Klay Thompson (14 of 28 for his 35 points) for this game, then complaints of urgency might have been made redundant. As it was, no other Warrior scored more than 10 points, and the little things made a big difference in Curry's absence. "I thought our defense was pretty good to start the game,'' said Kerr, "but we couldn't get a loose ball or rebound to save our lives. We weren't completing the possessions.''
The ball movement and free throw shooting that had led to an early 17-point lead in Game 2 for Portland were not at all evident in the early going of Game 3. The Warriors' defense was enabling Thompson to effectively replace Curry with 18 first-quarter points.
"That team, they had doubt. I could tell that,'' said Green. "You could tell they were unsure about everything they were doing in the first quarter. They felt like they were on the ropes, and we didn't take advantage of it.''
While the Blazers were going 1-for-12 in the paint in the opening quarter, Lillard was establishing himself at the 3-point line. He made his first three shots out there - and 5 of 7 throughout the opening half -- to provide Portland with a 58-46 advantage at intermission. Joining him in the attack was forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who would generate 10 rebounds and 23 points on 9 shots while making his first 8 (including a quartet of 3-pointers).
"And then we kept fouling,'' complained Kerr, whose Warriors were outscored 23-10 at the line. "That was really the difference in the game until the fourth quarter. We were fouling jump shooters. We were committing silly fouls. We weren't sharp, we didn't play very well at either end.''
Context means everything in this matchup. The young Blazers, for whom a playoff appearance had been anticipated by practically no one, are here today because injuries sidelined Chris Paul and Blake Griffin for the latter half of the opening round. They were determined to continue exploiting that trend vs. the Curry-less Warriors. Portland remained undefeated (4-0) at home in the playoffs because Stotts played Lillard, Aminu and C.J. McCollum (22 points after recovering from a 1-for-7 start) for at least 41 minutes each. He altered his rotations and utilized Ed Davis (8 points, 10 rebounds) when Golden State went small with Green at center.
Allen Crabbe had come off the bench to provide 10 points through three quarters (and an eventual impact of +25 in 30 minutes overall), but it was always going to come down to the fourth for Lillard. A brief drought of four possessions enabled the Warriors to whittle a 20-point deficit down to 11 as groans and other early signs of hysteria were incited from the crowd, which included a bellowing minority of Warriors fans.
The Blazers were going to need more from Lillard to see them through, and he supplied successive 3-pointers -- including one from deep behind the arc that Curry would have made under similar circumstances. Then, when Lillard could create nothing inside the final 2 minutes, he was bailed out late in the shot clock by a McCollum 3-pointer that made it 120-106 and summoned the reserves of both teams. "We were a more aggressive team at both ends of the floor down the stretch,'' said Lillard, who added By the end the Warriors were furious with themselves. They blamed Lillard's fresh legs (10 fourth-quarter points) on their game-long failure to make the Blazers work defensively. Too many quick shots, not enough ball movement, not enough urgency.
"We've got to wear these guys down with more passes,'' said Thompson. "They played eight guys tonight heavy minutes. We've got to realize that. We've got to make them work on the defensive end.''
It will help, too, if Curry is able to come back. But if Green has his way, they aren't going to need him.
Ian Thomsen has covered the NBA since 2000. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.
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