In the continued absence of Kevin Durant, The Golden State Warriors cruised past the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, taking a 1-0 series lead with a 116-94 win.
The Blazers hung around for much of the first half, but Steph Curry drained two 3-pointers in the last minute to boost the Warriors’ advantage to nine, and that was the key turning point. The Warriors took that momentum into the third quarter and soon had their lead up to 17 points after another Curry 3 in the middle of the third.
Though the Blazers continued to hang around and make things interesting into the fourth quarter, the game was never in doubt. While the final score makes the game look a bit more lopsided than it really was, the Warriors were never in danger of losing this one after their third-quarter burst. They were in cruise control from that point on.
Steph Curry continued the momentum of his second-half outburst to close out the Rockets in Game 6 with 36 points on nine 3-pointers in Game 1 vs. Portland. Curry was aggressive from the start, but a lot of the blame has to go to the Blazers, whose pick-and-roll coverage was lackluster.
Damien Lillard and Cj McCollum combined for 36 points which was equal to the amount of Steph Curry. If this trend continues it will not bode well for the Blazers who pride themselves in their offensive back-court. If they want to make this a more competitive series they need more production from their two guards.
Game 2 is on Thursday, May 16, at 9 p.m. as Kevin Durant will still be out with a right calf strain.
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