“James Michael McAdoo hits the 25-foot jumper” is the quote of the game. This contest showed that Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are not enough for Blazers in 6 to even be brought up in conversation.
Game 2 of this sharpshooting playoffs series started with the news of Kevin Durant being out with a calf injury. Golden State shot out the gate with a 33-17 first quarter leading by as many as 16, but the Trail Blazers went on a run of their own cutting the led down by as much as one in the second quarter to put a little pressure on the Warriors scoring 29 in the second quarter.
Javale McGee lead all scorers at the half with 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting in 8 minutes. Mccollum and Lillard were great in game one but had only 17 points at the half. McCollum especially was a concern shooting only 3-of-11 with seven points in 18 minutes finishing the game 4-of-17 with 11 points. Far cry from game one if you ask me. Lillard added 10 and didn’t score a single bucket in the second quarter and finished the game with 12 (0-4 from deep). Harkless led all Blazers scorers with 15.
The second half started off with Golden State going up 16 again. At the break, Charles Barkley said “neither of these teams is great defensively” which gave me a confused look. The Warriors were first in majority of Defensive ratings and they displayed that with another brilliant defensive third quarter as they finished the quarter 28-12. Forcing McCollum and Lillard to tough shots on back to back possessions.
There was one point game in the second quarter 43-42 with three minutes left and the Warriors exploded on a 44-14 run just all the way to end the third. Coach Terry Stotts emptied his bench relatively fast as he seemed to be annoyed by the quick shots and failed half court possessions.
Even though Curry & Thompson struggled to find any rhythm in this game the “others” (as Shaq likes to call them) stepped up great in this blow out win. While Portlands “others” looked dazed and confused.
In the Warriors post-game presser Coach Kerr raved about McCaw’s great body of work playing 34 minutes with 3 really confident buckets to give him 9 points and he also grabbed 5 boards. West also played great minutes finishing with eight points, 4 boards, and a block. But the real stud this game was the powerful and energetic McGee. He scored 15 points (7-7), grabbed 5 boards, blocked 4 shots and a steal in just 13 minutes.
We’ve seen Kerr make drastic changes in a series dating back to the finals series versus the Cavaliers where the death lineup was originally invented. McGee could see his self in a starting position and a lot more easy wins for the Warriors if he keeps this level of play up
Kudos to The Warriors and kudos to Javale McGee. They showed even without Durant they still believe in Strength in Numbers.
The series switch venues as the Blazers host the Warriors in their playoff home opener on Saturday. That’s more than enough time for Durant and Livingston to get healthy and help these great Warriors push for the championship.
Game 3 Saturday 10:30 ESPN
