The Warriors have been winning games without Stephen Curry in the playoffs by relying on precision execution and increased contributions from its entire roster. In Game 3 on Saturday night, Golden State wasn’t able to continue that brilliant run as their defensive rotations ceded open looks to the Blazers all game, and their third and fourth highest-scoring players had 10 and seven points respectively. The Warriors were outscored, out-executed and, perhaps most damning, out-hustled in the loss. Portland secured just about every loose ball and made the most of the extra opportunities by putting the rock in Damian Lillard’s hands. Dame dropped a cool 40 points and 10 assists and has his Blazers firmly back in the series.
Here are 10 thoughts on the game:
1. We’ve seen enough of Damian Lillard’s work to know that he was due for a game like this. 40 points on only 27 shots? That’s not a surprise — the man is a two-time All-Star for a reason. The surprise was that when the Warriors turned to trapping him harder in the second half, he was able to find teammates that were wiiiiiiiiiiiide open. The Dubs did well keeping CJ McCollum in check (8-of-18 shooting, 1-of-5 from deep) and at least forcing Lillard into tough shots, but the rest of the Blazers’ wings were free to take unmolested jumpers all game. Portland shot 17-of-30 from downtown and 46.5% from the field as a team. The Warriors defense, which had been spectacular in this series, needs to figure out how to slow down the Blazers’ guards without ignoring the rest of the team.
2. Even with the poor defense, the Warriors would have been in this game because Draymond Green and Klay Thompson almost matched Lillard point for point, pouring in 37 and 35 respectively. Klay had 18 in the first quarter, giving the Warriors an early lead, and Green did his best Steph impersonation with eight 3-pointers makes in the game. However, the supporting cast chose an inopportune time to go M.I.A. The nine Warriors not named Draymond or Klay who entered the game combined for a mere 36 points on 40% shooting.
3. Meanwhile, along with Lillard’s big night, the Blazers produced a much more balanced attack, netting 23 points from Al-Farouq Aminu on only nine shots, 22 from CJ McCollum, and 26 combined from their three backup forwards.
4. The Ian Clark and Leandro Barbosa minutes at backup point guard were a disaster. Although the pair shot well enough (8-of-14 combined), they’re three turnovers, suspect defense, and LB’s egregiously bad foul on Crabbe’s 30-foot 3-point attempt killed the Warriors when Klay and Draymond were on the bench. Without Curry, the team can’t afford to have long runs in the second and fourth where their bench bleeds points to the opposition.
5. Whether on purpose or by injury, Terry Stotts’ decision to give Maurice Harkless’ minutes to Gerald Henderson and Crabbe produced a nice dividend for the Blazers on offense. Andrew Bogut was fantastic to start the game, nabbing eight rebounds and three blocks, but without a non-shooter to matchup with on defense, Kerr could only get Bogues 11 minutes of burn. When the Blazers go small without Harkless on the court, there isn’t a place to hide Bogut on defense and free him to help on Dame and McCollum in the paint.
6. The Blazers defense did a great job in transition, sticking with guys in the helter-skelter sprint up the court, and they also limited the Dubs’ chances to run out by not giving up the ball (only 10 turnovers ). The Warriors scored only two points on the break (per ESPN.com).
7. Draymond was a minus-2 last night, making him a plus-137 in eight playoff games. The only other time he had a negative plus-minus was in the Game 3 loss in Houston.
8. Shaun Livingston only played 25 minutes, which seemed odd since the Clark and LB minutes were hemorrhaging points to Portland. I’m guessing Steve Kerr wants to pull back Livingston’s minutes a bit. The 30-year-old point guard with a long history of injuries had been averaging close to 30 minutes per contest as a starter.
9. The Warriors weren’t able to put Lillard in the post as often as they did in Games 1 and 2. Some of that had to do with Livingston playing fewer minutes, but the Dubs have to make a concerted effort to tire out Dame on defense, especially when he’s making baskets so effortlessly from deep.
10. This team hasn’t lost two games in a row all season. After each loss, they come back angrier and more determined. If Draymond is right, Game 4 is going to be a doozy, especially if this guy is back.