The Golden State Warriors look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead against the fighting Portland Trail Blazers. It’s bad timing for the Warriors as they could reportedly be short on their roster as Kevin Durant (calf strain) and Shaun Livingston are listed as questionable for the contest.
Everybody had there day in game one and came out firing even though the game did start off a little sloppy for the Warriors. Durant tacked on 32 points on 12-20 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds in his Playoff opener as a Warrior. Curry dropped 29 points, four assists, five rebounds and a block. Thompson struggled mildly scoring only 15 points, shooting 6-16 from the field.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum rose as a sharpshooting backcourt in their rematch against these new era Warriors. McCollum dropped 27 points in the first half setting a new franchise playoff record for points in a half and finished with 41, also a career playoff high. Lillard was nothing short of decent. Dropping 34 points on 12-26 shooting and 3-9 from deep.
Draymond Green handled that task handily in the series opener (if handily isn’t a word don’t quote me on it). Green feel short of a triple double and a 5 by 5. For those who don’t know what a 5-by-5 is think of a 4 for 4 at Wendy’s. you get 4 things for 4 dollars, Including tax? 4.37. He put up 19 points, 3-of-4 from downtown, grabbed 12 boards, dished out 9 dimes, got 3 steals and 5 huge rejections and 2 great back to back defensive plays. Both Dunks!
Green ruled game one even when he wasn’t. The Warriors seemingly struggled with Green on the bench in the first game. Being that Durant might not be an option for tonight’s matchup, expect the Blazers entire roster to adjust to attack the basket; maybe even the Coach Stotts.
Pachulia isn’t a really good rim protector and McGee is but can sometimes be over aggressive and to depending on his lift off the ground than the simple technique of keeping your hands up. Pachulia just simply get off the ground.
Regardless of that. I still see Golden State sweeping this series no matter how much fight the Blazers put up. Expect Thompson & AI 2.0 to be deeply engaged in this game 2 after their terrible home opener. The jitters are off now. Let’s play some playoff basketball.
Tipoff is at 9:30 PM on TN
(10:30 est)
